Unexpected
by Tsunami Storm
Summary: This story is kinda different from the show after the Day of Black Sun. Everything is pretty much the same in that battle, except for Zuko's confrontation with Ozai. Other than that, all canon-pairings hold, and this story is rated T for violent scenes. ON HIATUS until I can think of what to write. XD
1. Day of Black Sun: the Eclipse

Hey, people! I'm starting in a new universe today, Avatar: the Last Airbender. Yay! Okay, this story is kinda different from the show after the Day of Black Sun. Everything is pretty much the same in that battle, except for Zuko's confrontation with Ozai. Other than that, all canon-pairings hold, and this story is rated T for violent scenes.

Pairings: Kataang, Sukka, Maiko, etc.

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

[Author's comments] {Not (usually) a part of the story and _can_ be ignored}

The Day of Black Sun: The Eclipse

* * *

><p>"–But I've come to an even more important decision. I'm going to join the Avatar, and I'm going to help him defeat you." Zuko stated with conviction, contempt burning in his golden eyes at the man he once called his father.<p>

"Really? Since you're a full-blown traitor now and you want me gone, why wait? I am powerless. You've got your swords, why don't you just do it now?" Ozai sneered, doubting that his cowardly disgrace of a son could even do it.

"Because I know my own destiny. Taking you down is the Avatar's destiny." Zuko retorted, looking at the Fire Lord in pity, for the first time seeing him for what he truly was; a weak, scared man who ruled his nation with fear and intimidation. Briefly, he wondered how he could have ever respected this pathetic excuse for a human being. He sheathed his Dao swords, then with a final "–Goodbye," turned to leave the room, knowing that this defiant action would anger his father the most.

"Coward! You think you're brave enough to face me, but you'll only do it during the Eclipse. If you have any _real_ courage, you'll stick around until the sun comes out." Ozai snarled at his traitorous son's retreating back. When he saw that his words had fallen on deaf ears, the Fire Lord tried a different tactic, a last-ditch effort to make his son turn around. "Don't you want to know what happened to your mother?" He watched in satisfaction as Zuko froze in his tracks, his back ramrod-straight, and slowly turned to face him once more, an expression of utter shock on his face.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile–<p>

"Where. Is. Suki?" Sokka demanded, glaring at the trapped Fire nation princess in anger while she remained smug and silent.

"Sokka, she won't talk." Aang answered, trying to explain to his oldest friend that his efforts were futile. Undeterred, Sokka rephrased his question. "Where are you keeping her?" However, Azula answered him not a word, biding her time until the eight minutes of the Eclipse had passed.

* * *

><p>"–For her actions, she was banished." Ozai finished, glowering at the oldest son of his traitorous wife, Ursa.<p>

"So she's alive?" Zuko gasped, hardly daring to believe it. At these words from his father, a single tear ran down his face from his good eye and dropped to the metal-tiled floor of the war bunker.

"Perhaps." Ozai stated mysteriously and without care. "Now I realize that banishment is far too merciful a penalty for treason. _Your_ penalty will be far steeper." he growled as the moon continued in its orbit and exposed the sun once again, empowering him once again as only the celestial star could.

Ruthlessly and without warning, Ozai created two streaks of lightning around his index and middle fingers of both hands, looped them around once, then thrust them forward, aiming the bolt of supercharged energy at his only son. Concentrating his energy as his uncle had taught him, Zuko prepared to redirect the lightning back at the monster that had shot it. Zuko smiled grimly to himself when he thought of how shocked his father would be, having never seen such a technique before. As the lightning surged down Zuko's left arm and through his stomach, the correct and safest path for it to take, Zuko gasped at the sheer power of the attack. Never before had he felt so powerful, felt so much energy within his body. Despite this exhilarating feeling, he remained the lightning's humble guide and directed the lightning out of his Sea of Chi and up into his right arm, straightening his elbow and releasing the lightning back at his opponent, just as his uncle had taught him.

Ozai stared at his son in shock as Zuko flawlessly performed a firebending form that even _he_ had never heard of; he, the Fire Lord! Ozai briefly wondered where and when Zuko could have possibly learned how to redirect lightning, and for the briefest moment felt a sense of pride in the young warrior before him. A boy who–growing up–had never been an excellent Firebender, but was always weak, slower than his younger sister, the prodigy. Then that moment of weakness fled, and Ozai blocked the redirected bolt with the edge of his left hand, reabsorbing it into his energy and using it to magnify another attack. Forming complex signs with his hands that were too fast to read, Ozai summoned an enormous wall of fire and directed it at Zuko, then conjured another string of lightning and shot it through the flaming wall. _He'll never be able to block both._ Ozai thought triumphantly, a smirk lifting the corners of his mouth.

As the wall of fire reached Zuko, he summoned a tornado/fire-shield and negated his father's attack with his own. As soon as the flames dissipated, however, the lightning struck, surging around the prince and entering the one area lightning was never meant to go: his heart. Zuko cried out once in pain and shock, and then fell to the ground with a weak groan, both of his eyes shut tight and his teeth clenched.

"I knew it." Ozai growled, standing up from his position at the back of the room and walking toward the young prince, who lay curled on his side, supercharged energy still circling his body. "You're weak. You always have been weak, and you always will be weak. You're too much like your fool of a mother. I will not tolerate weakness within my nation, and especially not within my family. As of this moment, you are no longer my son." he spat, stalking from the room. As he left, he gestured to his guard to arrest the traitorous boy and imprison him in the deepest dungeon of the Fire Nation prison. The faceless guard bowed in unison, then marched into the adjoining room to carry out their order.

* * *

><p>Outside the royal palace, the battle was going poorly for the invasion force. The Fire Nation army had regained its bending abilities, and was now attacking ruthlessly and without mercy. Just as one of the Water Tribe warriors called for a retreat, an army of airships with the Fire Nation insignia on their sides. "My own invention!" the Mechanist cried as his son put a hand on his back, "Oh, this is terrible!" Behind them rose into the air crafts that no one had ever seen before, monstrous airships that dwarfed the war balloons that Téo's father and Sokka had designed and perfected.<p>

"They're not attacking–" Sokka realized, confused as to what the airships were going to do if not drop bombs on the exposed invasion force. With a gasp, Aang figured out their plan. "They're headed for the subs! They're gonna cut off our escape!"

Before anyone could react to the Avatar's realization, the monstrous airships had reached the bay and proceeded to destroy the invasion force's only mode of escape. Now they were trapped, and at the mercy of the Fire Nation. In an effort to evacuate at least a few of their members, the invasion force decided that the children involved in the battle should escape capture by fleeing the scene on Appa, the Avatar's two-ton flying bison. With heavy hearts, the youngsters tearfully bade their goodbyes to their families and friends that would be left behind, prisoners of the merciless Fire Nation. "Bye, Dad. I'm– I'm really proud of you." Téo muttered as he embraced his father for the last time.

Seeing the myriad of sad faces both in Appa's saddle and on the path, Aang stood up on his bison's head and cleared his throat. "Thank you all for being so brave and so strong. I'm going to make this up to you." He vowed, taking his seat on Appa's large head and flexing the reins. With a growl, the bison flexed his large tail and soared into the sky, carrying his young passengers away from the battlefield and to the safety of the unknown. After a few minutes of flight, Aang called back to his companions, "I know just the place to go where we'll be safe for a while, the Western Air Temple!"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, a dark airship surfaced through the cloud cover behind the bison as the adolescents retreated, unnoticed by the group. On board the ship, a Fire Nation soldier turned to his commanding officer and asked, "Should we follow them, Princess?"<p>

The daughter of the Fire Lord flipped her bangs back with a toss of her head and answered, "No, they're too fast. But it doesn't matter. They'll be back." Azula smiled smugly and dangerously, keeping her eyes focused toward the prow of the ship. "We must keep on course. My father ordered that traitors to our nation must be punished severely, and that is exactly what I intend to do." With that elegant parting comment, she swept from the room and through the door to the prison hold.

"Oh Zuzu, why must you always cause trouble for the royal family?" Azula teased rhetorically, using her pet nickname for her older brother as a joke to further torment the barely-conscious prince. "Father's left me in charge of your punishment, and I will not disappoint him, even if you _were_ once my brother. Congratulations, Zuko. You've managed to become even _more_ of a disappointment to Father than Uncle Fatso, and _that's_ saying something." Azula offered, disgusted with the failure she saw chained before her. Zuko groaned in pain, fighting to stay conscious despite his numerous injuries. In the mere hour that had passed since his confrontation with the Fire Lord, Zuko's once-unmarred back and chest had become a surface that resembled dried, cracked mud. Bruises and open wounds dotted the young man's back, so much so that no unmarked skin could be found. The same could be said of his chest, yet on this side the wounds appeared to be slightly less severe. Additionally, his arms and legs were similarly scarred and cut, although again not as severe as his back.

"Despite my hatred for you, Zuko, I'm actually quite impressed." Azula admitted with a smirk and a raised eyebrow at the boy before her. With another groan, Zuko managed to lift his head to look at the Fire Nation princess, his golden eyes confused at her latest statement. "A normal person wouldn't have survived nearly this long. I guess your banishment _did_ teach you something after all." she mused, turning away from her victim and running two fingers through her hair. "Didn't teach you the _right_ things, though, I'm afraid," she continued with a sigh.

"Y-you're wrong–" Zuko rasped, speaking for the first time since the battle. The metal chains around his wrists clinked as he tried to adjust his position, shifting his weight from one leg to the other, silently enduring the pain that followed this simple action.

"Oh, _I'm_ wrong?" Azula shrieked, whipping back around to once again face her captive. "Excuse me, but _I'm_ not the one who betrayed his nation repeatedly, failed multiple times at the simple task of capturing the Avatar, or aiding and abetting the enemy in battle." After this comment, she created a super-heated whip of fire and struck the elemental weapon across the boy's face, cutting a thin scar across the unmarked half, over the bridge of his nose, and down to his lower jaw. She repeated this process nine more times, until not even she could recognize her brother's face under the new wounds.

Satisfied, she snapped her fingers, and two muscular workmen marched into the room, bearing sledgehammers with heads as large as a man's. Stopping next to each pillar, the men raised the chain links higher, forcing the captive to his feet. Then without a word, they brought the sledgehammers down, snapping the bones of Zuko's upper arms as if they were dry twigs. The prince cried out in agony as the waves of pain grew nearly unbearable, and a single tear of blood fell from the boy's right eye to the metal floor. After the horrific deed had been done, the two workmen bowed to their princess, then returned to their duties as if nothing had happened.

With a final smirk, Azula leaned towards the now-unconscious prince, her face just centimeters from his, and whispered, "No, Zuzu, I am afraid that it is _you_ who are wrong. _Dead_ wrong." Then she backed away a few steps and pulled a lever to her right. With a high-pitched screeching noise, the hatch doors of the bomb bay opened, and the pillars to which Zuko was chained collapsed, causing the unconscious boy to fall from the aircraft to the wooded area below. By some stroke of luck, or maybe a sympathetic soul aboard the vessel, the airship had been merely feet away from grazing the tops of the trees, lessening what would have been a fatal fall had the airship been higher in the sky.

"You fools! I had intended for that fall to be the final, mortal punishment for his betrayal! Now because of you, he could have survived!" Azula screeched at the pilots of the mighty aircraft. Then she suddenly regained her composure, running two fingers through her bangs one more time. "Well, no matter. I doubt he will survive out there anyway, with those injuries. He won't get far."

* * *

><p>"This is humiliating." Katara complained as the group traversed the barren wasteland, searching for the hidden western temple of the Air Nomads.<p>

"What is? Getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation, or having to walk _all the way_ to the Western Air temple?" Sokka asked rhetorically, once again exercising his well-honed talent of sarcasm.

Although she knew an answer wasn't needed, Katara answered anyway. "Both." she sighed dejectedly.

"Sorry guys, but Appa gets tired carrying all these people." Aang apologized, scratching the bison's eyelid fondly. On the monk's head lay Momo, who had grown too tired for flight and was now snoozing on the Airbender's shaved scalp.

"I wonder how the rest of the troops are," Téo commented, breaking the dejected silence that hung over the group like a dark cloud.

"They're probably on their way to a prison. It seems like my Dad just got out, and now he's goin' back in." Haru commented, his eyes downcast.

The youngest member of their larger group, The Duke, sighed to himself, wiping away tears from his eyes. "I miss Pipsqueak." he muttered, referring to the largest member of Jet's Freedom Fighters gang, who had been left behind when the children had escaped.

"I miss not having _blisters_ on my feet!" Sokka retorted, glaring at his sealskin boots, as if they were responsible for the sores that were developing on his ankles and soles. Which in fact, they were, in part.

After a few minutes, Toph exclaimed, "Hey, we're here! I can feel it!" Katara, however, was not so optimistic. "Umm, I think your feet need their eyes checked." she said skeptically, studying the barren and decidedly temple-less landscape.

"No, she's right. We _are_ here!" Aang confirmed, smiling at the rest of the group, recognizing the area to which they had come. Sokka looked left and right, then back at Aang, shooting him a confused look and putting his arms up.

"Wow. It's amazing!" Toph continued, feeling with vibrations through her feet what her friends couldn't see with their eyes. The ancient Air temple had been carved into the cliff-side, and gigantic Chinese pagodas hung upside-down from the canyon wall. To the left of the group, about two hundred feet from their position, stood a sizable wooded area, from which a small stream of water flowed, directly into a large fountain full of crystal-clear water.

…

A few minutes later, when Appa had carried all of them safely down to the main area of the temple, Katara exclaimed, "Whoa. You weren't kidding, Toph. This place is amazing! I wonder how the Airbenders did it?" she questioned aloud, glancing at the last Airbender. Noticing her look, Aang shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me! That was _long_ before my time! I'm only 113!"

At this the whole group chuckled, needing a good reason to laugh after everything that had happened that day. Still smiling, each member of the group went to unpack their belongings from Appa's saddle. Katara left as well, sorting through their meager pile of supplies for a pot that was suitable for boiling water for soup. As she searched, she saw her brother aimlessly wandering in circles, throwing his boomerang and catching it when it returned. "Hey Sokka, if you're finished unpacking, why don't you go get us some firewood?" Sokka looked over at his little sister in confusion for a moment, but then nodded and headed for the stairs that led out of the canyon.

The teenaged Water Tribe warrior sighed as he stumped toward the copse of trees, grumbling to himself about his abused and unappreciated walking appendages. He huffed in annoyance when he reached the area and saw that there were no suitable branches to be found on the outer rim of the small wood. Scowling, he slowly entered the thicket, smacking branches out of his way and wincing when they smacked him back. "Stupid branches– grumble grumble– stupid Fire Nation– grumble– stupid war." he groused as he ventured deeper into the grove, gathering dead branches and twigs as he walked.

Suddenly he heard a faint, unidentifiable sound from somewhere near him. Sokka froze in his tracks, barely breathing, trying to listen for the sound that had stopped him. A few seconds passed, and then– there it was again! A faint, weak groan about twenty paces to the south of his current position, Sokka guessed, _Hmm. Could be an injured animal._ Sokka reasoned, unsheathing his sword from his back. Creeping closer in absolute silence, he thought, _Then again, it could just be my imagination. Weirder things have happened._

Groan. "Okay, that's definitely not an animal _or_ my imagination! That's a _human_ groan!" Sokka whispered loudly to himself, and then ran toward the source of the sound. Breaking out of the thick bramble a few moments later, Sokka found himself faced with a horrific sight. A young man whipped and beaten beyond recognition lay spread-eagled before him, his mouth slightly open and blood at the corners, as if he had fallen from a great height and accidentally bitten his tongue when he'd landed. "Whoa." Sokka gasped, all other words failing him at the moment.

The figure before him was clothed in only a ragged pair of faded crimson shorts, jagged edges at the legs and tied with a simple string of slightly-darker woven thread. The rest of the boy's body was covered in bruises, deep gashes and blood, both long-dried and fresh. His eyes were closed in pain, so Sokka could not see what color they were. As he approached the badly-wounded young man, he was surprised to find that the young man's hair had not been touched in the slightest, but framed the boy's face nicely as the wind gently played with it.

Apprehensive, Sokka edged closer to the enigmatic and injured boy, but as he did, a twig snapped under his boot. Both warrior and victim froze and tensed, expecting the other to attack. When neither noticed that an attack was not forthcoming, they visibly relaxed, Sokka sighing with relief and the boy unclenching his jaw and fists. Sokka carefully knelt beside the young man, then said, "I'm not gonna hurt you, I just wanna help. Can you speak?" Receiving no answer, Sokka took that to mean 'No'. Taking the boy's left hand in his right, Sokka explained, "I'm just gonna ask you a few simple questions. Squeeze once for no, twice for yes, and three if you don't know the answer. Okay?" Two faint squeezes. Good. The boy could understand him.

"All right. First question. Do you know who you are?" Two squeezes followed that, and Sokka thought, _Good. He doesn't have amnesia. Lucky break._ "Good! Next one: Can you walk?" One squeeze. Nope.

"Okay, that's fine." Sokka encouraged, giving the poor boy a small smile that he couldn't see anyway. "Next one: Can you open your eyes?" One again. No. "That's all right. We can fix that. Okay, last question: Are you a bender? If so, what element? Water, Earth or Fire?" He left out Air on purpose, as he knew for a fact that Aang was the last Airbender.

The boy groaned, and Sokka realized his mistake. "Oh, sorry! That was two questions in one, wasn't it? All right, first question then!" Two squeezes. Yes. _Oh, please don't be a Firebender__–_please_ don't be a Firebender__–_"Okay, second question!" Sokka continued, giving no hint through his voice of his thought processes. "Water, Earth, or Fire?" he repeated, hoping with all his heart that it wasn't the last.

One squeeze, two– three. _Oh no. He _is_ a Firebender. Great. Now what?_ Sokka dropped the young Firebender's hand for a moment, debating on what he should do next.

"Isn't it obvious?" a miniature Fire Nation Sokka growled, appearing on Sokka's left shoulder, complete with mustache and beard. "Leave the guy and tell the Gaang! The Fire Nation's evil! Evil, I tell ya!"

"No!" a female voice cried. "You promised to help him!" Sokka gasped as a tiny version of Yue appeared on his right shoulder.

"We did no such thing!" Wang Fire retorted indignantly, stroking his beard. "We only said, quote, 'I just wanna help.' Not 'I will help'. Two different arguments."

"Okay, but you _implied_ that you would help, and that equals a promise in my book. Right Sokka?" Yue retorted, glancing at Sokka's head with an expectant expression.

"She's got a point there, other me." Sokka defended, glancing at Wang. "But _you're_ right too. After everything the Fire Nation's done, I can't trust him."

"Ah, but you are generalizing, Sokka. I agree, the Fire Nation army has done some terrible things, but that does not mean that _everyone_ in the Fire Nation is evil. And look! This boy is clearly too young to be a soldier. Therefore, you cannot assume that just because someone is a Firebender, it automatically makes them evil." Yue commented, demonstrating her great wisdom of the Moon Spirit.

"What about Zuko? _He's_ a bad guy!" Wang and Sokka suggested at the same time. "He's not in the army, and he's evil!"

"What about Jeong-Jeong? What about Roku? What about Iroh? They are Firebenders, yet would you call them evil? I have been watching Zuko, just as I have been watching over you, and I think that he is very different from his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather Sozin. He is merely– confused, and hurt. I can see the good in his heart, and I think that he only needs a helping hand in the right direction. If you could see his past, and his actions over the past few months–as I have–you would not see him the way you do now."

Sokka nodded, knowing that Yue's words made sense. Grasping the boy's hand again, Sokka muttered, "I have to go now, but I'll be back. I promise." Two faint squeezes. "Try to get some rest. I should be back in about two hours." Two squeezes again. With a sigh, Sokka stood to his feet, and then gathered up the pile of branches that he had dropped. Just as he left the clearing, he called back, "Oh, by the way, the name's Sokka."

* * *

><p>"What took you so long?" Katara questioned exasperatedly as Sokka stumbled into camp half an hour later. He dropped the pile of wood by his sister's feet, and then answered distractedly, "Sorry. I had a hard time finding sticks." <em>And I found a Firebender.<em> He then sat down on a large rock and started sharpening his boomerang with a whetstone, studying the weapon with excessive interest.

Beside Katara, Toph frowned. _Hmm. He's lying about something. I just can't figure out what. What he said _was_ true, but he's not telling us something. I can feel it._ Then she shrugged. _Eh, whatever. It's his business, not mine._ Then she took off her meteor bracelet and started playing with it, forming it into different shapes with her Earthbending.

…

"Aang," Katara stated after the group had eaten the soup she had made, "We need to talk about finding you a Firebending teacher."

The Avatar sighed melodramatically and rolled his dark gray eyes. "Yeah, I know. But who's gonna teach me? I mean, it's not like I can just walk up to a Firebender and say, 'Hey, will you teach me?' Almost everybody in the Fire Nation wants me dead!"

"We could look for Jeong-Jeong!" Katara suggested excitedly, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Yeah right. Like we'll ever run into _Jeong-Jeong_ again!" Aang answered dejectedly, flicking a pebble off of the rock on which he was sitting.

"Who's–?" Toph began, but then she stopped. "Oh, never mind. If it's important I'll find out." she stated confidently, crossing her arms and turning her head in a random direction.

Just then Haru, Téo and The Duke returned to the campsite, all three of them laughing heartily. "Dude! That was AWESOME!" The Duke shouted, raising both fists into the air. "Let's do it again tomorrow!"

Téo shook his head quickly–as if to clear jumbled thoughts–then replied, "No way, man. I'm not goin' down there again until I fix my brakes. That was _way_ too fast! Do you have any idea how close I came to breaking about a hundred of Aang's past lives' statues? Uh-uh. Not again."

Wanting to shift the subject off himself, Aang looked around and asked suddenly, "Hey, has anybody seen Sokka?"

"Oh, Snoozles said something about wanting to check out the forest again. He said he'd be back in a few hours. Don't worry about him." Toph stated calmly, shrugging her shoulders. Satisfied, the whole group then split up to continue their various activities.

* * *

><p>"Hey, man. It's me again." Sokka announced as he broke through the underbrush surrounding the small clearing. The young Firebender grunted in greeting, unable to voice anything else. Sokka had gathered a few twigs and dry branches on the way to the clearing, and now he was arranging them in a small pile that would be suitable for a campfire. Then he took two sturdier sticks that had grown in a 'Y' shape and stuck them in the ground. He pulled a small bowl with a handle out of his pack, quickly filled it with water from the nearby stream, then put a third stick through the handle so that it rested over the soon-to-be campfire. His labors complete, he turned to his silent companion and took his hand again.<p>

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but can you bend in this condition?" Sokka asked the young man apprehensively. He shut his eyes tightly in anticipation of the answer, and was slightly relieved when he felt a single weak squeeze, the signal that he could not.

"Whew! That's good." Sokka breathed to himself. Louder he said, "I'll just start the fire the old-fashioned way, then." he announced calmly, retrieving a small knife and a stone from his bag. After five tries, he managed to spark a small flame to life on the dry leaves under the pile of wood, and within minutes had a decent fire burning under the pot of water. "I'm just boiling some water so that we can wash your wounds. Yue knows you've got a lot of 'em." he laughed nervously, assessing the damage again and wincing.

…

When the water was heated sufficiently, Sokka took a clean cloth from his pack and soaked it in the water. Then he started cleaning the more serious wounds on the boy's chest, trying to be as gentle as possible. The young Firebender winced as the hot water made contact with his injuries, but otherwise did not react to the treatment. The Water Tribe boy continued the process in silence for over two hours, wrapping each cleaned wound in clean strips of cloth and a mixture of herbs to help with the healing.

Eventually it got too dark to see anything, and Sokka packed up the makeshift campsite, pouring the water on the fire to put it out and scattering the ashes with his boot. He then took the last two items from his pack and placed them next to the sleeping Firebender, putting the extra shirt behind his head as a kind of makeshift pillow and draping the blanket over him to cover the rest of the injuries.

Pouring some cool water into a small cup, Sokka walked up to the boy's head and knelt down beside him. Taking his left hand in his own, the warrior asked, "Do you think that you could manage to drink a little water? You must be thirsty." Two squeezes answered that question, and Sokka put his right hand behind the boy's head and helped him drink out of the small cup. The boy nodded his thanks when he was done, and Sokka nodded back, forgetting for a moment that the other boy couldn't see it.

After this, Sokka left the camp with a promise. "I'll be back tomorrow morning, so try to get some sleep. The boy nodded, and as Sokka left he heard a faint whisper from the boy that he thought he'd never hear: "Th-thank you– Sokka."

Sokka froze in his tracks, recognizing the boy's voice. _No way__–_ he thought. _It can't be._ He slowly turned around, and the Fire Nation boy had turned his head to look at him, his golden eyes open and the less-injured side of his mouth turned slightly upward in a half-smile. "_Zuko_?" Sokka breathed incredulously, refusing to believe that the boy he had been helping was really the prince of the Fire Nation. The young Firebender slowly nodded, confirming his identity as the son of the Fire Lord.

Sokka walked back up to the teenager and knelt down beside him, retrieving his boomerang from his back. "I knew it. This is all an elaborate scheme to capture Aang again, isn't it? You haven't changed one bit!" He shouted at the boy, causing him to wince. Zuko slowly shook his head in denial, but Sokka wouldn't listen. "You never change! I was right to not trust you! I can't believe you're still up to your old tricks!"

"I– I'm not–" Zuko rasped, his throat still sore from the fire he had been forced to swallow. "I _have_ changed. I'm not the same person that I used to be. Back in Ba Sing Se, I– I made a mistake. I was– confused, and I made the wrong choice."

"_I'll_ say you did!" Sokka scoffed, turning away from the teenager and crossing his arms. "Not even counting what your sister did to Aang, how could _you_ do that to _my_ sister? She _trusted_ you! And what do you do? Turn around and attack her! What do you have to say to that, huh?"

"I have– nothing to say. I can– only hope that– someday– you guys– can forgive me." Zuko breathed, closing his eyes and turning his head away from the other warrior in shame.

"Yeah, well, don't hold your breath." Sokka retorted, turning away and crossing his arms, then stalking off to return to the temple. Zuko watched him go; regret burning in his golden eyes. _Nice one, dumb-dumb. You've managed to alienate yet _another_ person that just wanted to help you. You shoulda just kept your big mouth shut._ he silently berated himself. Then he looked around. He noticed that Sokka had left the blanket and shirt behind, and a small smile lifted the less-injured corner of his mouth. _Maybe this was his way of saying sorry. I don't blame him though. _I_ wouldn't trust me either, after everything I've done._ Then the former prince turned over on his side, resigning himself to a long, sleepless night.

* * *

><p><span>End of chapter 1<span>

Next chapter teaser: Miracles and Threats

Ooh, I hope they forgive Zuko! Poor kid. He's had a rough life. (Ya think?)

See you next chapter!

Tsunami Storm


	2. Miracles and threats

Heeeeerrrrrrrreeeeeee's chapter 2! Read, Enjoy, and Review!

I forgot it again. *Sigh* Well, better late than never, I guess.

_**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. All credits for that great show go to Mike and Bryan, the creators. The only thing I own is the plot of this little story.

* * *

><p>The next morning dawned, the first rays of sunlight shining through the gaps in the trees around him. Zuko lay perfectly motionless, breathing in the crisp morning air and allowing the shafts of light to dance across his body. Breathing deeply, he felt almost glad to be a Firebender, that he could regain his strength by the power of the sun. For a moment he felt almost at peace, staring up at the rainbow sky of dawn.<p>

However, nothing lasts forever in this world, and the weight of his current situation came crashing down on his shoulders once again. He had betrayed his nation, abandoned his family and true one, and was cast out into exile. Compared to his emotional and mental scars of guilt, his physical wounds were nothing. Groaning, he sat up with difficulty, his abdomen muscles sore from the torture he had endured the previous day. Both his arms hung useless at his sides, having been broken on his sister's orders. Zuko grimaced when he saw the extent of his injuries on his chest, arms and legs, but felt gratitude that they'd at least left him a modicum of dignity by leaving him a pair of ragged shorts.

Zuko then tried to stand up without the use of his arms, only to fall back with a cry of pain when he remembered that he'd broken his leg when he fell from the airship. Gritting his teeth against the throbbing pain, he reasoned that both of the bones in his lower right leg had snapped, judging by the waves of pain spreading from the area of the fracture. _I can't move like this,_ he realized with a jolt. _And after what happened last night, I doubt that Sokka will come back._ He groaned to himself and flopped back down on the grass, helpless to do anything else. _Am I really going to die here?_

* * *

><p>Two hours later, far below the forest, the Gaang was waking up to prepare for the day's activities. Haru, the Duke and Téo were going to finish exploring the temple, Toph was going to practice her Earthbending techniques, and Katara and Aang stayed by the fountain to train in Waterbending. They all kept fairly quiet, as one member of their group was still asleep, and this member could be quite grumpy if he was woken too early.<p>

Said warrior was peacefully at rest, dreaming of the princess who had captured his heart. In his dream, the two were sharing a friendly picnic at the North Pole Spirit Oasis, munching on freshly-baked bread and laughing at Sokka's occasionally-witty jokes while the stewed Sea Prunes lay forgotten in their bowls.

Suddenly Zhao and Zuko appeared from the tundra wastes behind them, murder gleaming in their eyes and fists flaming with their destructive element. A ball of fire suddenly shot toward the Water Tribe members out of nowhere and struck Yue in the back, killing her and the Moon Spirit Tui instantly. His eyes wide with horror and anger, Sokka charged at the Fire Navy Admiral, whipping out his meteor sword and yelling like a madman. Zhao paid him no heed and continued to fight his opponent, Zuko.

However, something before Sokka's eyes caused him to stop in his tracks in shock. Zuko was staring at Yue with the same look of horror in his golden eyes. Tearing his attention away from the fallen princess, Zuko turned his burning gaze on Zhao, who was merely smirking, not even acknowledging the atrocity he had committed. Suddenly Zhao was replaced by Azula, but the merciless smirk was still present on this foe's face. Wordlessly she shot a bolt of lightning at the enraged prince, who was too preoccupied to block it, much less redirect it. She then fired off Firebending forms that were far too quick to distinguish, leaving her brother scarred and barely conscious on the ground, looking _exactly_ like Sokka remembered seeing him the previous day in the real world. Azula then turned her attention to him, her golden eyes gleaming despite the lack of light.

Just as he braced himself for the blow that would end his life, Sokka cracked open one eyelid to see what the holdup was. Azula had taken a step backward, her eyes and mouth open wide with terror and disbelief. Sokka whipped his head around, and there was the spirit of Yue, bathed in the glow of the full moon behind her. Yue had summoned a giant wave from the water around the Spirit Oasis, and allowed that wave to come crashing down, carrying a screaming Fire Princess away with it as it ebbed.

Grinning at Yue in thanks, Sokka jumped when he heard a weak groan behind him. The Water Tribe warrior knew that Zuko was hurt badly, and probably wouldn't survive without his help, but still he hesitated. This guy had put them through so much in the past, why should he help him now? After another groan from the injured prince, the Moon Spirit spoke. "Why do you not help him?"

"Because he's the enemy. If it weren't for him, maybe you'd still be alive." Sokka said carefully, not a hint of humor in his voice or on his face. Still frowning, Sokka turned his back on the dying prince and the Moon Spirit, walking away into the darkness. Yue watched him go in silence, disappointment in her eyes and a tear on her cheek. "How much more blood must be shed in this war, Sokka? As part of the Avatar's gang, I thought your job was to help _heal_ the world and make it whole, not leave it in darkness, hurt and divided." Then her tear dropped into the pool where La swam, and both koi, the black and the white, resumed their eternal dance once again.

Sokka woke up with a jolt, sitting up so fast that he sent Momo flying, who had been curled up on his chest. The traumatized lemur chattered angrily in his face for a moment before flying off to find his master. Rubbing the sleepers out of his eyes, Sokka stretched and yawned hugely, shaking his head to rid himself of the disturbingly-realistic dream that he'd just experienced. _Wow._ he thought. _Haven't had a dream like _that_ before. Maybe I'll ask Aang about it later. He's good with all that 'spiritual mumbo-jumbo'._ After exiting and rolling up his sleeping bag, Sokka unpacked his 'space sword' from his pack and studied it closely. There were a few nicks in the blade from the Eclipse battle. He soundlessly removed his whetstone from another pouch in his bag and studiously began sharpening his weapon, never knowing when he might need it again.

…

Nothing much of interest transpired that day, and evening found the Gaang gathered in the inner chamber of the Air Temple, enjoying a simple meal of rice and stew that Katara had prepared. Aang had gathered some edible mushrooms, herbs and vegetables from what remained of the ancient gardens, and Sokka had found a wounded jackalope and put it out of its misery. Katara had prepared a special meat-free soup for Aang, who was a vegetarian, and added a few extra pieces of meat to Sokka's bowl, knowing that her brother loved it. After they had finished, and Katara was cleaning up the dishes, Sokka took Aang aside to a secluded area of the temple where they would not be overheard by the wrong ears.

"Hey Aang? This is gonna sound really random, but– do you believe that dreams– can sometimes be more than just dreams?" Sokka asked the young Avatar, tapping his index fingers together and looking from side to side in quick succession.

"Sure!" Aang replied happily, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Dreams can be all kinds of things. Sometimes they can be a message from your conscience, sometimes they can be a reflection of your desires, messages from the Spirit World, or just random things that make no sense at all." he stated, his gray eyes shining with pride as he remembered what his friend Gyatso had taught him on this very subject. "I've had tons of dreams like all of those. The great thing is that dreams are always meant to make you feel better. It's just figuring out their message, that's the problem. Why? Did you have a dream like that, Sokka?" the Avatar inquired, studying his friend with an inquisitive look in his dark-gray eyes.

"Nah. I was just wondering, is all. You know me, I like to think about things. No matter how random they may be." Sokka lied quickly, mentally berating himself for making his question so obvious. He should have been more subtle! "A– a friend of mine had a dream like that once in the South Pole, and I didn't know what to say about it when he asked me. This was a while ago, long before you turned up." he fibbed, trying to cover up his concern with a phony story.

Luckily for him, Aang was easily dissuaded and didn't press the matter. "Well if you ever need to talk, you know where to find me!" Aang said brightly, whipping out his staff and leaping off the cliff-side to soar on the wind for a few hours. Sokka watched his friend go with a smile, slightly envious of the ease with which the Avatar soared through the mists below the temple. For a moment he wondered, _If I was an Airbender, would I be able to be that graceful?_ Then he shook his head to clear his thoughts of the ridiculous fantasies. _If the Universe wanted me to be an Airbender, I would have been _born_ one._ And with those thoughts, he walked off to return to his sleeping bag.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, another warrior was wishing that he'd been born into a different people than that of the Fire Nation. Zuko groaned in frustration at his helplessness, trying to ignore the stabbing pangs in his stomach. This task was proving impossible, however, as by now the insistent organ was roaring like an angry tiger-dillo. Sighing in defeat, Zuko stared up at the starry sky and the moon shining brightly in the center of the picture. The celestial orb was not yet full, but halfway through its two-week cycle from light to darkness and back again.<p>

_At least it's a nice night._ Zuko mused, listening quietly and calmly to the cicada-hoppers as they performed their nightly masterpieces. _Probably gonna be a nice day tomorrow too, judging by the smell of the wind._ Suddenly a solitary cloud passed over the moon, casting the world below it into shadows for a brief moment. Zuko scowled at first when he saw the cloud, but then turned pensive as he thought of a symbolic meaning that the cloud could have. _That's not a bad symbol for my life. It _was_ bright a long time ago, but lately there have been dark clouds that block the light of the right path._ The cloud passed slowly in the gentle breeze, bathing the injured prince once again in the silvery glow of moonlight when it finally passed. Gazing at the lunar body, Zuko's mouth turned up slightly at the corners. _Now it's like the fog has lifted, and at last I see the light._

Just as he thought this, the light from the moon intensified, and a transparent figure appeared before him, her white hair and dress flowing like silken waterfalls. "Yue?" Zuko rasped in surprise, his throat still sore. The Moon Spirit nodded once without a word, as if in greeting, then touched a soft hand to his right arm, gently erasing the pain and mending the bone as if it were soft, warm clay. Zuko gasped softly when his arm was healed, marveling at the power the Moon Spirit possessed. As she was turning to leave, Zuko called softly, "Hey, wait a minute." Yue obliged, freezing in her movements and listening without turning around.

"I– I just wanna say– I'm sorry. It's partly _my_ fault that you– died. If I hadn't been chasing the Ava– I mean _Aang_, then Zhao wouldn't have come to the North Pole and made your sacrifice necessary. I– I'm so sorry." he broke off, a thin tear streak coursing from his good eye.

At this Yue turned around to face him, then knelt at his side and put a gentle hand to the left half of his face, the side with the horrible scar. Then in a voice as quiet as a whisper, she breathed, "It was the will of the Spirits that I become the Lady of the Moon. It was no fault of yours, Prince Zuko. Do not burden yourself with needless regret. This way, I am allowed to do whatever I can to aid those who require help, where and when they most have need of it. Like _you_ for example," she smiled, poking the prince playfully and laughing at his bewildered expression. Zuko instantly relaxed at the sound. It was like a harmonious chorus of tinkling bells. Having said this, Yue slowly returned to the sky, looking back at the suddenly-exhausted prince, who was fighting to keep his eyes open.

"Thank– you, Yu-e–" he managed before drifting off into a deep, healing sleep. The Spirit of the Moon smiled down upon him one last time, then faded from this world to return to the realm of the other spirits. Just before she faded from this world, she took one last look at the sleeping prince. "Never lose hope, Prince Zuko. You are destined for great things."

…

Hours later, just as the sun was rising in the east, Zuko woke up with a low groan and rubbed his head to erase his pounding headache, forgetting for a moment the miracle that had occurred the night before. Suddenly he remembered, then stared at his right hand for a few moments in disbelief. Surreptitiously checking to see that no one was around, he concentrated on his palm, and a small tongue of fire appeared in the space where before there was nothing but air. Slowly Zuko smiled, glad for once that he could command the potentially-wild element. Snuffing out the flame with a flick of his wrist, the Fire prince stood up with the aid of his newly-healed right arm and set off to find something to eat.

Wrapping up the shirt that Sokka had left two nights ago, Zuko formed it into a makeshift sling and tied it around his neck for his left arm. Then he wrapped the blanket around his shoulders like a cloak to keep himself warm in the crisp morning air. After limping for a few minutes, Zuko found a long stick that would be suitable to use as a crutch. Concentrating his chakras, Zuko summoned a small flame on the tip of his index finger and used it to carve the piece of wood into the correct shape. Once he was satisfied with his makeshift crutch, Zuko put it under his right arm and walked off to satisfy his appetite.

* * *

><p>Unbeknownst to him, an unseen spy was poking around the campsite that he had just vacated. The newcomer had snuck in just as Zuko had left, feeling his uneven and limping gait as he shuffled away through the underbrush. <em>Hmm.<em> the spy thought. _He's obviously wounded, but I don't see why Snoozles is keeping secrets about it._ Bending down to the ground, the individual studied the tracks around the campsite, feeling the lay of the land with Earthbending, taking notice of where the teenager had lain for nearly two days, as well as the various sets of footprints around the clearing. _Well, at least I know where Sokka went that first day. He should have known better than to keep secrets from the 'Human Lie Detector!'_

Carefully stepping toward the center of the clearing, Toph put a hand to the ground where Zuko had been laying earlier. As she felt what elements composed that particular area, she muttered quietly, "Ew. From what I can feel, this guy's lost a _lot_ of blood. Hm. Maybe Sugar Queen can think of some kinda remedy for that." With those thoughts, she scratched her head a few times with her finger, then scratched her side and stretched, yawning hugely as she did so. "Well, that's enough sleuthing for today. Maybe I'll get to count a few more koala-sheep before everybody else starts running around." Then she left the temporarily-abandoned camp and shuffled back to the temple, eager to return to her earth-tent.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, Zuko returned to his camp, unaware that he'd had a visitor while he was away. Over his shoulder hung a rope that was tied to several small game animals. He untied them from the rope, recoiled it, then placed it on the ground next to his other belongings. He then found five long sticks, tied two of them together in an 'X' formation, then stuck them in the ground. Repeating that action, he did the same thing with the other two, then quickly skinned, boned and skewered the meat on the fifth stick and suspended it between the two 'X' supports. After gathering a pile of dead branches and small, fallen logs, he breathed deeply and set the logs on fire with a swift fist of fire. Then he ventured back into the forest to find some wild berries that he had seen earlier.<p>

…

Hours later, as evening drew near, the animal jerky was finally ready to be stored or consumed. Zuko carefully extinguished the flames under the makeshift rotisserie, then cooled off the meat and began slicing it into strips with a fire dagger. Once that was finished, he packed four sets into the blanket-turned-knapsack and saved the fifth and last for tonight as his evening meal. Earlier, he had found several wild carrots and other edible vegetables, as well as plenty of wild berries. The small forest had provided the first adequate meal he'd had in days, and he was grateful. He silently thanked the spirits and Agni in the other world for allowing him the ability to fend for himself out in the wilderness, and smiled when he thought of the one who had taught him to do it by himself, Iroh.

With a sigh, he lay back on the soft grass, thinking of his uncle's solitary prison break. _I hope he's all right,_ Zuko thought to himself as he gazed up at the starry night sky. _Then again, Uncle's got a lot of friends from all over the place. And it's not like he can't take care of himself. He'll be fine._ With that half-certain thought, he drifted off into a light doze, which eventually became a deep, healing slumber.

* * *

><p>The next morning found the Gaang up early, as they had decided the night before to train Aang facing multiple benders and warriors in battle. Katara used some of the most advanced Waterbending moves she knew, Toph and Haru attacked with large boulders, and Sokka used his space sword and boomerang as his offensive. One by one, Aang defeated each warrior, taking a bit longer than normal to defeat Toph and Haru, as his Earthbending skills were not yet perfected.<p>

After the training 'battle' was over, Sokka sat down on a large fallen pillar with a sigh, rather embarrassed that he had been the first one to be defeated. A few minutes later, Toph flopped down next to him, sighing out loud, "Nice job, Twinkletoes. Maybe you'll get the hang of this 'Avatar' thing after all." She then cracked her neck and knuckles loudly and leaned back against the pillar. "Too bad we're missing an element. If you had a Firebending teacher, then we'd _really_ have a party!"

Aang tensed and scowled for a moment at his Earthbending master. "Yeah? Well who would _you_ suggest as a teacher? There's not many Firebenders who wouldn't want to eliminate me on the spot. The only one that wouldn't would be Jeong-Jeong, but he vanished a long time ago." After saying this, he too sat down with a thump, putting his head in his hands, a symbol of defeat.

"Hey, Roku was a Firebender, right? Why don't you just go to the Spirit World and have _him_ teach you?" Sokka interjected after a minute of dejected silence, inspiration striking him like a bolt of lightning.

"That's a great idea, Sokka!" Katara squealed, excitement flaring in her sapphire eyes as she looked at Aang, a wide grin on her face.

"I hate to burst you're bubble, guys, but that won't work." Aang replied, the same dejected look on his face as before. "Don't get me wrong, Sokka. It _was_ a great idea, but there's no bending in the Spirit World."

"Whoever said anything about bending? Sure, he may not be able to give demonstrations, but he could still teach you the _forms_, right?" Sokka persisted, not to be dissuaded by a mere technicality. "You already learned the basics from Jeong-Jeong, so Roku could teach you the rest!"

"But how will I know if I'm doing it right? And there would be no way to gauge the power of the forms without actually bending the element." Aang stated, seeing the point of the suggestion but also considering every possible angle.

"Well, you could _try_ it, at least." Sokka muttered, slightly disappointed that his brilliant idea was not so brilliant after all. Suddenly he remembered another Firebender who could teach his friend, but kept quiet about that idea. He still didn't know how Katara and the others would react. In fact, he himself was still unsure of what to think of the prince of the Fire Nation. Judging from their brief interaction a few days ago, Sokka had not noticed any hostility from the other teenager, merely a reserved, calm, slightly-defeated attitude as he had helped him bandage his wounds on his face, back, chest, arms and legs. _Maybe when he recovers, I'll ask him about it. I have no idea how long it will take for him to heal, though. If only Katara would heal him__–__ but there's as much a chance of _that_ happening as Aang has of becoming a carnivore._

* * *

><p>When Zuko limped into his campsite later that evening, the <em>last<em> thing he was expecting to see was a guest, stoking an already-built campfire. If not for his broken leg and arm, Zuko would have leapt five feet back and crouched into a fighting stance. As it was, he started slightly and froze in his tracks, wary of the stranger who knelt in front of him, his back turned and his eyes focused on the fire. The young man wore armor from the Southern Water Tribe, and a helm in the shape of a wolf's head hid his face from view. Without turning around to look at the prince, the warrior mused, "'bout time you showed up." Then he stood to his feet, turned around and grinned.

"_Sokka_?" Zuko gasped. He limped closer to the fire, to see if it was truly who he thought to whom he was speaking. Sokka's grin changed to a smirk, and he nodded once briefly in confirmation. "Well, let's take a look at those injuries of yours, shall we?" the swordsman suggested, not wasting any time with small talk. After a moment of confusion, Zuko nodded and sat down carefully by the fire, taking care not to put too much pressure on his injured leg. Sokka pulled two flat boards out of the pack he'd brought with him, as well as a veritable mountain of strips of cloth. He then unpacked a metal kettle and three metal rods, which he set up over the campfire. He then walked to the stream, and filled the kettle with the clear water, then set it up over the fire to boil.

After doing this, he turned to Zuko, and with his assent, carefully inspected his right leg. "Well, it's definitely broken, but it should heal just fine on its own. I'm no healer, but I've had to set a few bones in my day. My guess is, as long as you keep using that crutch, it'll heal by itself in a few weeks." Sokka guessed, adopting a professional manner to calm his injured companion. This was not the time or place for jokes. Placing a board on either side of Zuko's leg, Sokka secured the makeshift brace with several strips of cloth, the ends of which had been clumsily sewn together so they formed a long chain. After he tied the end to secure the braces he helped the prince to stand up, testing the contraption to see if it was too tight. It wasn't, so Zuko sat down again and adjusted his arm sling with his right hand, keeping his eyes downcast the whole time.

"That's weird." Sokka muttered quietly, scratching his head. "I could've sworn that _both_ of your arms were broken last time." Then he addressed Zuko directly. "Why is that, do you think?" Zuko merely smirked mysteriously and answered, "Maybe a spirit took a liking to me and healed my right arm."

Sokka snorted. "Yeah right. Like _that_ would happen. No offense, but you're not exactly the most likable person in the world."

Zuko laughed too, waving off the observation as if it were old news. "None taken, but I was telling the truth. The Moon Spirit appeared to me last night and healed my arm. I don't know _why_, but I'm not complaining. She probably saved my life."

At this point, the water in the kettle was boiling, but Sokka took no notice of it until it started whistling shrilly. Closing his gaping mouth and shaking his head violently to clear his thoughts, he dropped a clean rag into the boiling water to sterilize it. He then removed the kettle from the fire and set it aside, waiting for it to cool down sufficiently. After a few minutes, he removed the cloth and squeezed some of the water out so that it wouldn't drip. "Now," he stated, "Let's take a look at your back."

Zuko grimaced, but then nodded and rolled over onto his side. The air hissed through his teeth as Sokka sucked in a shocked breath, horrified at the sight before him. Zuko grimaced again. "Bet you're glad your sister isn't as crazy as mine," he joked, humor showing on his face, but pain and regret shining in his golden eyes.

"Oh, I dunno," Sokka mused, continuing the joke. "Katara can get pretty crazy sometimes." he laughed twice, then turned serious as the truth dawned on him. "Wait. Your _sister_ did this to you?"

Zuko nodded, then shrugged. "Everything except for my left eye, but you probably already knew that." Sigh. "She's always had it in her to do something like this. It was only a matter of time before she snapped. I just happened to be on the receiving end."

After this, the two boys sat in silence while Sokka cleaned the numerous wounds on Zuko's back. "It looks like you were pretty lucky," Sokka commented after a few minutes. "I'm surprised that these deep ones didn't cut through any muscle. It's gonna leave some pretty bad scars, though. I can't do anything about those."

"That's okay. It doesn't matter what the person looks like on the outside, but it's what's _inside_ that counts." Zuko answered, wincing as the hot water stung his wounds.

"Wow. Who told you that?" Sokka questioned, impressed by the other teen's observation. He was barely a year older than Sokka was, but he was clearly wise beyond his years.

"Heh. I actually made that up, but it's based on what Uncle was always telling me. When we were traveling together, trying to find the Avatar." Zuko supplied, smiling as he thought of the man who had taught him so much. "You know, 'cause of my– scar." he pointed to the area with his right thumb, and Sokka nodded in understanding.

…

Half an hour later, Sokka had finished cleaning and bandaging all of Zuko's wounds, and the Fire Prince joked that he resembled a badly-wrapped mummy. Both teenagers laughed at that for a while, then Sokka packed up his supplies and turned to leave the clearing. Just as the Water Tribe warrior was about to enter the tree-line, Zuko called, "Hey, wait a minute Sokka." The other boy turned to look back. "Aren't you guys in need of a Firebending teacher for Aang?"

Returning to Zuko's side, Sokka knelt down again. "Yeah, we are, but how did _you_ know that? The Avatar's training is supposed to be a secret!"

"Hey, whoa! Don't blow up on me! I just noticed that Aang seemed pretty proficient at the other three elements the last time I saw him, and I figured you guys would need a Firebender who'd be willing to teach the Avatar– and not try to capture or kill him." he added for good measure.

Sokka calmed down, then crossed his arms. "Good point." he admitted grudgingly. "But I'd be willing to bet that the rest of the Gaang won't be too happy to see you, much less let you _teach_ Aang."

"I've thought about that. You could say…" He whispered his plan into Sokka's ear, and the Water Tribe boy's face slowly changed from confused doubt to excitement. "Do you really think that'll work?"

Zuko nodded. "From what I know of your sister, she's basically a trusting, compassionate person, right? She'll buy it. Hopefully. If I can manage to convince _her_ of my intentions, then the rest of your friends will be easy to win over."

"And if she doesn't?" Sokka pressed. "What if she figures out the truth?"

"Then I'll just tell my whole story of the past few days and beg for mercy. If she forgives me, then great. If not–" Zuko sighed. "Well, it's been nice knowing ya, Sokka."

* * *

><p>A loud knock sounded at the door to the palace throne room. "Enter." a female voice commanded. Soon a curious cacophony of odd sounds filled the room. It sounded like a metal man walking. <em>Thump. Clang! Thump. Clang!<em> As the man approached the royal audience chamber, Azula looked up from the scroll she had been perusing.

"Ah, you're here. Good. I take it then that you received my summons?" the Fire Nation princess queried rhetorically, to test the bounty hunter. Of course he had! Why would he be here if he hadn't? For an answer, the bearded Firebender with three eyes nodded, put a metal fist to his heart, and dropped to one knee in respect.

"I hear that you're the best when it comes to finding people, and that you know the value of information, know when to keep your mouth shut. Pardon the pun," Azula smirked, tucking one of her ebony bangs behind her ear. The man merely stared at the princess, not reacting to the trivialities.

"Now, to business. Simply put, there is a man at large who has become a threat to the Fire Nation, an enemy of the state. He may already be dead, but I like to be precise. If he is not, I want you to find him, capture him and bring him to me, alive." She rolled up the scroll and threw it to the bounty hunter, who ripped it out of the air with his metal fist. "This is the man I expect you to find. You are free to use any means necessary, but make sure he lives. Bring him to me successfully, and you will be rewarded handsomely. Oh! One more thing. If you happen to find the Avatar on the way, bring _him_ to me alive as well. Kill the others."

The bounty hunter put his fist to his heart again and bowed. Turning his back to the Fire Nation princess, he stumped out of the throne room, clenching the scroll with Prince Zuko's portrait in his metal fist.

* * *

><p><span>End of chapter 2<span>

Next chapter teaser: Convergence

Well, it seems that Sokka trusts Zuko, at least. Now we just have to worry about the others.

Oh no. It's Combustion Man again! Eep! And Azula is ruthless as ever.

See you next chapter!

Tsunami Storm


	3. Convergence

Boy. I sure took my time with this chapter, didn't I? Enjoy! (and REVIEW!)

Chapter 3: Convergence

* * *

><p>The rain pelted with rare fury against the giant 'blast shutters' of the Air Temple as the Gaang sat in silence, gathered around a small campfire that Aang had built for Katara to use as a cook-fire. As the usual rice meal was boiling, the young Waterbender sighed. "Where could Sokka be? He's been out all night!" she agonized, worried about her brother.<p>

"Don't worry, Sweetness." Toph assuaged, using her favorite nickname for Katara. "Snoozles is fine. He's up in that little forest that we found a couple days ago, when we first arrived." She flopped backwards onto the cold stone and bent herself a rock-pillow, folding her hands behind her head and sighing, the picture of ease. "If you want to know the specifics, he's earning his nickname at the moment, although I can't figure out how he could sleep with all this rain." _And he's got another person with him. Maybe it's that injured person from yesterday?_ Toph shrugged. Sooner or later, they'd find out.

* * *

><p>Toph didn't realize how accurate she was. At that very moment, Zuko was preparing for his upcoming 'meeting' with the rest of the Gaang. He tied his hair back in a low ponytail and wrapped some spare cloth around his left eye to cover the scar. He also donned the shirt that Sokka had left for him days ago, then wrapped the blanket about himself like a cloak. Gazing into the clear stream, it took Zuko more than a moment to recognize himself. When he limped back into his camp, he was rewarded with Sokka's comical reaction: jumping to his feet and grasping the hilt of his space sword. But then he relaxed, noticing the familiar golden eye of the Fire Nation prince, which was smiling back at him.<p>

"Wow. It's like you're a whole different person!" Sokka complimented.

"I've been working on my voice too," Zuko rasped. "'Li' has good reason to be a little hoarse. When the Fire Nation was torturing him for showing insubordination to the commander of the army, he was forced to swallow fire. Among other things."

"But can't Firebenders _breathe_ fire?" Sokka asked, confused.

"Some can. Not everyone. But with the 'Breath of Fire', it's a one-way street. It's not supposed to go down, only up and out. That's why my voice was rougher than usual when you first found me."

"Can _you_ do it?" Sokka asked, intrigued by this new information. "Breathe fire, I mean?"

"–Yeah. But I probably shouldn't give a demonstration for a few days, or at least until my throat heals." Zuko answered, staring at his feet. "My uncle can do it too, hence his nickname 'The Dragon of the West'." The Fire Prince smiled with pride at the thought of his uncle Iroh, then turned sad when he remembered what had happened between them the last time they had seen each other.

…

After a moment of slightly-awkward silence, Zuko turned slowly on the spot, asking in a falsely-hoarse voice, "So how do I look, Sokka? Do you think that 'Li' will be able to fool your friends and your sister?"

"Hmm." Sokka pondered, looking his friend over. "It just might work, if we don't slip up. What's your back-story again?"

Zuko sighed as he recounted his 'history' for the Water Tribe warrior, for the umpteenth time. "My name is Li, and I was just a regular soldier in the Fire Nation army. One day I overheard a general's plan to distract the Earth Kingdom's troops by sacrificing new recruits. I spoke out against this plan, and my commander saw it as insubordination and punished me severely, hence all the wounds. I nearly lost my left eye in an Agni Kai, and I broke my leg and arm some time after I deserted. I'd heard about the Avatar's travels, and figured that he'd need a sympathetic Firebending teacher sooner or later. So I tried tracking you guys down, but collapsed in the forest a couple days ago, when you found me."

"Okay, I got it." Sokka nodded. Then he added, "Boy, if I didn't know the truth already, I would believe you right away. That's a very convincing story. I doubt even _Katara_ will suspect you after that heart-wrenching tale."

"One can only hope." Zuko agreed, but his visible eye was downcast.

"Hey, cheer up. We got this," Sokka encouraged, gently patting 'Li' on the back. "So here's how it's gonna go. I'll walk down to the temple, with you following me at a distance. When we get to the Gaang, I'll explain what I've been doing for the past couple days. After I'm done, I'll introduce you, and then you tell your back-story. With any luck, you'll be part of the Gaang in no time." Sokka smiled. "Or at least 'Li' will be." The Water Tribe teenager added with a chuckle.

Zuko reciprocated with a small half-smile, but his heart was not in the gesture. He seemed calm on the outside, but that was merely a paper-thin mask hiding the terrified child inside. _Agni…_ Zuko prayed. _Please give me strength._

* * *

><p>"This is getting ridiculous." Aang stated, standing up from his makeshift chair, which actually was a fallen pillar. "I'm gonna go look for Sokka. He's been gone far too long." The Airbender stated, looking at the evening shadows that stretched across the ground.<p>

"Don't bother, Twinkletoes." Toph warned calmly, causing Aang to freeze in his tracks and flail comically to regain his balance. "He's already on his way back down." _Should I tell them he's got a friend with him?_ she asked herself. _Nah. I bet Snoozles has the whole thing planned out. I'll just stay quiet and pretend to be surprised when they show up._

"Oh." Aang answered awkwardly, taking his seat again. A few minutes later, Sokka came into view, followed by a– wait. What _was_ that? "Is that a _mummy_ behind him?" Haru questioned incredulously.

"No, it's a heavily-bandaged Fire Nation soldier who wants to join us and teach Twinkletoes Firebending." Toph stated sarcastically, and they all laughed at the joke, knowing that such a scenario was almost impossible.

"Hey, Gaang!" Sokka called as he approached, acting as if everything was fine and dandy. He flopped down inside the circle of friends, grabbed a small bread loaf, and tore a chunk off with his teeth. "So," he began, talking with his mouth full, "I bet you guys were wondering what I've been up to the past few days."

"Oh, _no_. We've been _much_ too busy to worry about _you_," Katara stated, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Everyone laughed at this, and even Zuko gave a small smile. Then she added in a more serious voice, "Of _course_ we were! We were all really worried that you'd been attacked or something!" she chided, all humor replaced with apprehension.

"Nah. Although it's nice to know you cared." Sokka laughed back, tossing his dinner back and forth between his hands. "You know that day that you asked me to get wood, Katara? And I didn't come back for a while?" Katara nodded, as did the rest of the group. "Well, the reason I took so long–or part of it anyway–was him." he stated, pointing a thumb back over his shoulder, aiming right at his silent companion. Everyone except for Toph turned to Zuko, who paled slightly, but then bowed in greeting. Everyone smiled and bowed back, even Katara, who felt sorry for the injured young man.

"Well don't be shy," Sokka laughed. "Go on and introduce yourself!" When he could see that no words were forthcoming, he prompted, "What's your name?"

"L-Li." the teen managed, his raspy voice barely above a whisper. Then it became louder as he gained confidence, "My name is Li."

"Hi, Li!" seven voices greeted, all sporadic in their placement. Zuko bowed again, touching his fist to the bottom of his palm in the traditional Fire Nation greeting. The group tensed at this sight, but then remembered that not all people in the Fire Nation were bad. Just those in the army and the royal family.

"Li was a former soldier in the Fire Nation army, like Jeong-Jeong and Chey, but he was just a foot soldier, no special rank like they had." Sokka interjected when he noticed that Zuko had fallen silent again.

"Simply put, I did something stupid, was punished severely, deserted the Fire Nation, heard about you guys, then managed to break my leg and arm tracking you down." Zuko summarized, shrugging his 'good' shoulder. _Not necessarily in that order,_ he added to himself. "Anyway, I have a lot of Firebending experience, and I'm considered to be pretty good at it. I– I thought I could help you guys, by teaching the Avatar Firebending."

"Well, you couldn't have come at a better time, Li! We've been wondering for _weeks_ who would teach Aang!" Katara smiled as she surveyed the young Firebender with renewed interest. She could tell that he had a handsome face under all his scars and bandages, and guessed that he was about as old as Sokka was. There was something familiar about his voice–something Katara didn't like–but it was too raspy to distinguish. What had the Fire Nation _done_ to this poor boy?

Zuko shifted uncomfortably as the Gaang stared at him, all smiling in welcome, but he could see the pity in their eyes as well. "You must be in a lot of pain," Katara gasped suddenly. "Follow me. We'll get your wounds washed and healed in no time." she offered, leading the way to the fountain. Zuko took one nervous look at Sokka, who winked and gestured for him to follow his sister. Breathing out and in slowly, Zuko turned and followed the master Waterbender to the fountain, and sat down on the rim when instructed.

"Now, where are your injuries the worst?" Katara asked kindly, cloaking her hands with water as she did so. "Umm– my back." Zuko answered, and carefully removed his borrowed Water Tribe shirt that Sokka had let him use. Then he folded it carefully and set it down on the ground by the fountain.

"Well at least I know where all those cloth strips went," Katara giggled as she noticed Zuko's 'bandages'. "Sokka must have dressed your wounds for you, huh? I'm impressed." she commented as she carefully began unwrapping the strips on the teenager's torso, arms and left leg. She left the brace on his right leg untouched, as the bones were still broken. When she'd removed the last of the wrappings, she gasped, putting a hand close to her mouth. "Spirits above," she breathed. "How in the world did you _survive_ this?"

"I guess I'm just lucky." Zuko answered. _And blessed by Yue._ "I'm stronger than I look."

"_I'll_ say." Katara reciprocated, then set to work healing the numerous cuts, burns and bruises on Zuko's back, chest, arms and legs.

…

After hours of this strenuous work, Katara groaned when she saw that she wasn't even halfway finished. Then she inexplicably flushed a bright red.

"What's the matter?" Zuko asked, afraid that she'd overworked herself while healing him.

"Umm–" Katara began, turning as red as Zuko's shorts. "You– don't have any injuries around your– you know, do you?" she asked nervously, her face as red as Zuko's scar.

Zuko caught her meaning after a minute, then turned beet-red himself and vehemently shook his head. "No. No I don't." he answered, extremely embarrassed.

"That's good." Katara sighed with relief, her face returning to its original tanned appearance. Suddenly they heard a voice. "You all right over there, Sweetness? Your heart rate went wild for a minute." Toph called.

Both benders flushed again and Katara called back, "We're fine. Just working on healing these injuries." _And embarrassing myself up the wazoo._ Katara thought to herself. Then another thought occurred to her. "Li? Can you bend in this condition? I mean, with a broken arm and leg?"

"I should be able to, with my right arm." Zuko answered, flexing the appendage experimentally. Thanks to Katara's healing abilities–and Yue–his arm was almost as good as new. "I'm just teaching the Avatar the basics. It's not like I'll be doing anything advanced for a while."

"Actually I've already learned the basics from Jeong-Jeong." Aang interjected brightly, causing both benders to jump in surprise. "Oops! Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." he apologized, biting his bottom lip.

"That's okay, Aang," Katara laughed, bending the healing water back into the fountain out of her dress. "Now I know why Toph always calls you 'Twinkletoes'. You're so quiet!" she continued, shooting him a mock-reproving glare, just like a mother would. But she was smiling, too.

Aang grinned sheepishly and bowed in apology. Turning to Zuko, Aang bowed again and greeted the ex-prince in the standard Fire Nation greeting. Zuko was mildly surprised by this, but then nodded and smiled in response. "I'm really excited about learning from you, but I'm also scared. The first time I tried to learn Firebending, I burned Katara. And after that, I never wanted to Firebend again. I hope that I can control myself this time, under your guidance, Sifu Li."

Zuko was taken aback for a moment that he was addressed as 'master,' but then recovered and encouraged, "Don't worry, –Aang. I know how dangerous and wild fire can be. We'll practice away from everyone, and I'll make sure you're doing it right." He smiled and winked at the young Airbender, who proceeded to leap twenty feet in the air with a 'WAHOO!' of excitement.

Katara watched him happily as he bounced back to their friends, then turned back to the Fire Nation boy. "I've healed all I can for today. Tomorrow I'll work on the bones in your leg and arm, then the next day I can get started on those scars on your face." she suggested as she neatly folded the unwrapped bandages. Zuko bit his lip in apprehension when she mentioned his face, but then hid it when Katara finished folding the wrappings and turned back to face him. "Do you need help getting to the campfire, or can you manage on your own?" she asked quietly.

"No, thank you. I can do it myself." Zuko answered, grateful for her offer of assistance. Then he carefully stood up and shuffled to where the rest of the group sat, Katara following behind him.

* * *

><p>That night when everyone was starting to nod off, Sokka led Zuko to an empty room and said, "So, this can be your room, for now. It's on the ground floor, so you don't have to worry about climbing any stairs. You've got a nice view of the canyon too," Sokka observed, smiling at the moon and remembering the princess that had become its guardian. "Well," he yawned, "see you in the morning, 'Li'."<p>

"Yeah. Good night, Sokka." Zuko answered, then sat down on his bed, carefully positioned his right leg, then lay down to rest. As sleep gradually overtook him, his thoughts strayed to his uncle, whose whereabouts were unknown. _Agni, please watch over my uncle Iroh._ Zuko prayed. _And if you can hear me, please pray with me for your father's safety, Lu Ten._

…

The next morning, Zuko rose with the sun just as any Firebender would. He yawned and scratched his head with his right hand, then stood up from his bed, leaning on his crutches that he'd made for himself. He limped over to a small stone bench that held a basin of clear water and carefully washed his face, wincing as the cold water stung his injuries. When he had finished preparing for the morning, Zuko opened the door to his 'room' and slowly made his way to the main open area of the temple. He smirked when he saw Sokka splayed out in his usual comical position, then his smile softened when he saw the young Avatar curled up in a ball, and Momo sleeping on his head.

_He looks so peaceful, laying there._ the Fire Prince thought as Aang smiled in his sleep. _Poor kid. He's had to go through so much in his young life, and _I_ certainly haven't helped matters, chasing him all over the world. He certainly puts on a brave face, but I bet he's terrified at the thought of facing my father. _I_ would be too, if I were him._ Zuko stayed there for a few more minutes, watching the young Airbender sleep, then limped off to find something to do before the others woke up.

He eventually came upon the area where Appa was snoozing, and smiled as the Sky Bison snorted gently, opening one of his huge brown eyes to look around. Zuko gently scratched the animal guardian below its eyelid, and the bison rumbled softly with pleasure. "You weren't fooled by my disguise, were you, big guy? I still smell the same as that swordsman that freed you from Lake Laogai." Zuko stated as he continued to rub the bison's soft fur. Appa rumbled his answer, and Zuko smiled again, saying, "I assure you, I mean you and your human friends no harm. Or the lemur, for that matter. You can trust me, Appa."

"So you already know his name? I can tell you'll be fast friends." a young voice sounded from behind the prince. Zuko turned around with a gasp, afraid that his true identity had been revealed. What met his eyes was only the small form of The Duke, who was carrying a pile of hay for Appa's breakfast. "Didn't mean to scare ya, Li. Sorry." the boy apologized, looking appropriately abashed. "Bad habit from my 'Freedom Fighter' days." he explained, shooting a wide, sheepish grin at Zuko, who returned the smile half-heartedly.

_This kid was part of Jet's group. They _hate_ Firebenders. Just my luck._ Zuko thought as The Duke fed the bison. "How– how much did you hear?" he asked worriedly, expecting the worst.

"Just the tail-end of your 'conversation'. The 'you can trust me' part." the boy answered with a shrug, not noticing when Zuko breathed a silent sigh of relief. "What are you doing up so early, anyway? Shouldn't you be resting?" the boy asked in concern, looking at all of 'Li's' bandages.

"I always get up early. Firebenders rise at dawn, with the sun. It's just the way we are." Zuko answered, shrugging his right shoulder, as his left was still in a sling. "What about you? How come you're up at this time?" the prince asked the former Freedom Fighter.

"Couldn't sleep any longer. And somebody's gotta feed our biggest friend here." the youth answered, patting Appa's nose and laughing when he got a face-full of Appa's tongue in return. Zuko smirked at that, and had just turned to leave when the bison deliberately licked his back from toe to head, causing the hair on the back of his head to stick up. The Duke fell back on the ground, pointing at Zuko and roaring with laughter, and Zuko just stood there in shock, his entire back dripping with bison slobber.

"Ugh. _Appa_! Gross!" the young Firebender complained when the shock had passed, and he moved farther away from the animal with use of his crutches. The Duke was still on the floor, rolling from side to side and laughing his head off, and the Fire Prince limped off in embarrassment, his face as red as the shorts he was wearing. Leaning his right crutch against a pillar he fixed as much as he could of his hair with his right hand, removing the drool before it could harden, then he limped back to the main area, where the rest of the Gaang was sleeping.

However, upon arrival, he noticed that everyone except for Sokka had woken up already, doing various chores to prepare for another day. Katara waved to him from over by the fountain, and Zuko smiled and waved back. He walked over, and Katara greeted him more thoroughly with a polite bow in the fashion of the Southern Water Tribe.

"Hey Li! Good morning!" the Waterbender chirped brightly, happy to see the young man with whom she was fast becoming friends. "Hello Katara. Good– uh, good morning to you too." Zuko repeated, deliberately disguising his voice as he had yesterday.

"Ugh. No offense Li, but your voice sounds terribly hoarse." Katara observed, adopting a concerned expression. "What did the army _do_ to you, force you to swallow _fire_?!" she asked, half joking, half serious. Zuko just stared at the floor guiltily, as if his injuries were _his_ fault. Katara gasped when she discovered his unspoken answer, and immediately offered that she heal his scarred throat. But Zuko stopped her. "It'll heal fine on its own," he assured, not wanting to unravel the bandages on his face–and thus his secret identity–just yet. "You could work on some of the wounds on my chest, though. Maybe then my breathing will be a little easier." he suggested as an alternative.

"Right. Okay!" Katara agreed, removing Zuko's bandages and pressing the healing water to the biggest-looking wound. As her hands worked, her thoughts settled on the young warrior's predicament. _This poor boy. He's been through so much, and he's only one year older than me! The Fire Nation has so much to answer for._ she thought angrily.

"Sokka told me what happened, why you deserted the army. I can't say I blame you. Your commander must be a terrible man. Sacrificing new recruits like that! You were right to speak out against his plans." She stated with a huff, frowning as she worked.

"And what did I get for it? Beaten within an inch of my life, broken limbs, exile from my home, and a throat full of flames that permanently ruined my voice." Zuko growled before he'd thought about his words. "Just for talking out of turn."

"The Fire Nation army is ruthless. They're cold-blooded killers. All of them. And the royal family's no better. Pah!" she spat, making a mark on the stone floor. "_Some_ family. I've never seen a more dysfunctional group. I can't believe I actually once felt sorry for Zuko. Hah!" she seethed, tightening her fist and causing the other teen to hiss in pain. "Oops. Sorry." she apologized, suddenly remembering what her duty was and who was with her.

"It's okay. What was that about the banished prince?" Zuko encouraged, half-curious, half-dreading what she would say.

"Oh, it was back in Ba Sing Se. He'd told me that the Fire Nation had taken his mother, because I'd told him about mine**–** er, _ours_. Sokka's and mine. I thought that for a _second_, he was an actual human being with feelings. I'd actually offered to heal his scar! But when the time came, he made his choice, and we paid the price. I'm sure you heard about what happened after that." she summarized, glaring at the water in the fountain and trying not to cry.

"I'm sorry. That must have been really painful for you." Zuko comforted, knowing all too well her pain and sense of loss. He was suddenly overcome by an overwhelming desire to stop his charade and tell the truth, but instinct held him back. The young Waterbender could very well kill him if he revealed himself now. So instead he stayed silent and passive as Katara healed the whip lashes on his back and chest.

After she had finished, Zuko adjusted the remaining bandages on his arm, neck, face and legs, and Katara helped him tie the shirt he'd borrowed from Sokka. Then–after thanking Katara for her help–he ventured off to investigate a series of rumblings at the northern end of the temple.

…

When he finally reached his destination, he leaned against a broken pillar and smiled. He'd never been to an Earth Rumble bending match, but this one was probably pretty close. Toph, Haru and Aang were all practicing and honing their Earthbending skills, as well as teaching the Avatar some new tricks. Surprisingly, Aang was holding his own against the two masters, who were both chucking man-sized boulders at him. Sokka was acting as the deep-voiced announcer for the match, much to the delight of his audience, who couldn't help snickering at how ridiculous he sounded.

"And it looks like Twinkletoes is staying light on his feet to dodge that landslide from the Blind Bandit! But he'll have to be quicker than that to evade _this_ master! Here comes Coal Miner with a rock-alanche of his own! Can Twinkletoes get out of this one?!" Sokka asked rhetorically of his spectators.

"YEAH!" the audience of two cried, both cheering for the young Avatar. Téo was clapping so hard that his palms were turning red, and The Duke's face was the color of a beet from laughing so much. In the 'ring', the combatants were also having a hard time keeping a straight face. "What are you, Twinkletoes, a ballerina? Fight back! We can take it!" Toph razzed, snorting at the bizarre commentary courtesy of Snoozles. "Yeah come on, Aang! Gimme your best shot!" Haru called, grinning at the Avatar.

"Okay. You asked for it!" Aang answered, stopping both oncoming boulders in midair and sending them hurtling back toward the benders that had thrown them. Haru was knocked off his feet from the unexpected retaliation, but Toph merely stuck her fist out and turned the oncoming boulder to dust before it reached her. Téo and The Duke applauded, and the three benders bowed at the praise. Both masters and pupil bowed to one another, then went their separate ways, to engage in other activities to pass the day.

…

After dinner that evening–which consisted of a mix of different foods from the four nations–Zuko entertained everyone by manipulating the campfire, twisting the flames into different shapes and forms to tell a story. He related the most famous legends of Avatar Roku, as they had been passed down through Fire Lady Ursa's family. After the story/history lesson, the members of Team Avatar retreated to their respective sleeping quarters and tried to sleep.

As Haru found and unrolled his sleeping bag, he watched silently as Li limped out of sight with the aid of his crutches, heading to his room for the night. _I don't know what it is, but there's something about Li that just doesn't add up. He seems like a nice guy and all, but__–__ I don't trust him. _No one_ in the Fire Nation has eyes as gold as his, the golden eyes of the royal family. What's going on here?_

* * *

><p><span>End of chapter 3<span>

Next chapter teaser: The tiniest Spark may kindle a Flame

So, Zuko joins up with the group without any apparent problems. Yay! And it sounds like Katara has some deep, unresolved issues there. She's gonna need to work those out one of these days.

How long can Zuko keep up this ruse? How will the Gaang react when they find out who he really is?

I put some spoilers for the next chapter in its title. See if you can guess what'll happen!

If anybody spots a mistake, lemme know and I'll fix it for ya! Thanks!

Until next time!

Tsunami Storm


	4. The tiniest Spark may kindle a Flame

Unexpected, an AtlA fanfic by Tsunami Storm

Chapter 4: The tiniest Spark may kindle a Flame

* * *

><p>"All right, Avatar. Up and at 'em." Zuko whispered, nudging the young Airbender with his crutch. Aang groaned sleepily, then rolled over onto his side. "Not now, Sifu Hotman," he muttered. "It's the break of dawn."<p>

Zuko scowled at the silly nickname, but then countered, "Exactly. Dawn is the best time to start Firebending. And this way, you won't have any gawking onlookers to laugh at you if you mess up." _And I won't have Katara breathing down my neck if he ends up burning something he shouldn't._

Aang just groaned again and rolled over onto his side, Momo curled up next to him. Zuko rolled his eyes, then glanced over at Appa, who was watching him with interest. "I don't suppose _you_ know how to get him up, do you?" he asked as he limped over to the flying bison. With a grumble of assent, the ten-ton bison licked the 'good' side of Zuko's face, then lumbered off to wake his master. "Ugh." Zuko complained as he wiped the saliva out of his eye with his wrist. Then he almost laughed out loud when the animal guardian licked the avatar from toe to head, effectively drenching him with slobber.

"_Appa_!" Aang laughed, standing up and drying himself off with an Airbending maneuver. He then stretched and yawned, looking at the bandaged Firebender excitedly. Zuko nodded in approval, then gestured with his head for Aang to follow him. The prince and the Avatar tiptoed between the sleeping bags of the rest of the Gaang. Rather, Aang tiptoed and Zuko limped, taking care not to put too much weight on his right leg.

…

Eventually they came to a secluded area, one that the others wouldn't stumble upon by accident. Zuko then reassured the apprehensive Airbender, saying, "I know you're nervous, but remember: Fire–in and of itself–is not something to fear."

"All right," Aang repeated, his eyebrows high and his eyes wide with nerves. "Not something to fear."

"But if you _don't_ respect it," Zuko cautioned, "It'll chew you up and spit you out like an angry tiger-dillo!"

"EEAAGH!" Aang reacted, leaning back suddenly on his heels, away from his Firebending teacher.

"Now, show me what you've got," Zuko challenged, but not unkindly. "Any amount of fire you can make."

Aang tried, he really did, remembering everything that Jeong-Jeong had taught him. He took in a sharp breath through his mouth, puffed out his cheeks, and thrust his left palm to his right. To his slight embarrassment, only a small tongue of flame appeared, and that burned out as quickly as it had been conjured.

Zuko raised his eyebrow, not knowing how to comment on the Avatar's attempt. His first thought was: _That was pathetic! Even _I_ was better than _that_ when I started!_ Then he remembered that Aang and his friends had lived a far different life than he had, traveling all around the world and hiding from the Fire Nation army. _He hasn't had much instruction, maybe just a few days' worth. I had _years_ of training from the best masters in the Fire Nation. He hasn't had much time to practice either. Given that, I'm actually surprised that he can do what he did. It's nowhere near my level, of course, but we'll get there. Eventually._

"Maybe I need a little more instruction," a sheepish Aang admitted, glancing at his teenaged teacher almost in apology. "Perhaps a demonstration?" he suggested, looking hopefully at Zuko.

Zuko nodded. "Good idea. You might wanna take a couple steps back." he cautioned, motioning for the Avatar to stand clear. Aang quickly nodded, then obligingly retreated to the rock wall of the upside-down structure. Zuko breathed, tensed, and shoved his fist in front of him, turning to the side so that he wasn't aiming at Aang.

* * *

><p>"Hey, where's Li?" Katara asked as she looked around the circle of sleeping bags and one Earth-tent. "And Aang?" she added, worry edging its way into her voice.<p>

"Calm down, Katara. They're just Firebending over there on that far building. Or rather, _trying_ to." Toph snickered. She had just felt the faint vibration of Aang's rather pathetic attempt, and smirked at the Avatar's enthusiasm. "They're not doing anything dangerous, so chill." the young Earthbender suggested. "Just out of curiosity, why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's really nothing. I kinda wanted to work on Li's injuries, especially his legs. Then he wouldn't have to use those crutches anymore." Katara answered, shrugging her shoulders. "I really wanted to heal him completely _before_ any tutoring began. I don't want him to hurt himself."

"Well, they're both fine. I can feel it. Li's strong for his age, and we both know the Avatar can take care of himself." Toph stated confidently, folding her arms for emphasis. Then she walked over toward the fountain for a drink, taking care not to step on–or trip over–any of the sleeping bags that were still occupied. The Duke and Haru were snoring gently, Téo was sleeping with his mouth open, and Sokka was splayed in a position so comical that Katara had a hard time keeping her laughter contained. She walked over to the sleeping ten-ton Sky Bison and placed a large bale of hay by his enormous mouth. Curled right in the center of his arrow was the lemur Momo, who looked like he was enjoying a pleasant dream.

But that was all about to change. Katara heard two faint popping noises and then a thunderous explosion. She gasped in horror as one of the structures near Li and Aang's apparent location fell into the deep canyon. "Everybody wake up!" she cried as she sprinted to the circle of sleeping bags. "We're under attack!"

* * *

><p>"Wow, Sifu Li! I didn't know you could do that!" Aang gasped in amazement as the structure in front of Zuko's fist fell into the abyss. "But next time, try not to destroy the ancient temple," he pleaded.<p>

"That wasn't me!" Zuko gasped, looking at Aang in horror. "I didn't even _bend_ yet!" he explained frantically as he looked around wildly, searching for where the blast had come from. He knew without a doubt _who_ had fired at them, there was no question about that. It seemed that the bounty hunter had finally found the Avatar, just too late for Prince Zuko's mission. What the teen didn't know was that Combustion Man was on a new payroll, and seeking revenge on top of that. Nothing would stop his attack now.

"Come on, Aang! We gotta move!" Zuko shouted, throwing aside his crutches and grabbing the Airbender's shirt, pulling him behind the lee of the wall. The sudden rush of adrenaline in his system nearly eliminated the pain from his broken leg, so he didn't even notice as the separated shaft impacted into itself more than it had been.

The two boys barely managed to get to the next upside-down pagoda when the one that they had been training on was literally blown to bits. With that last attack, Aang recognized the form and sound, shouting mentally in horror: _It's Combustion Man!_ Aang then looked at Li, who was leaning against the wall next to him, panting and out of breath. _He'll never make it on his own._ the Avatar realized. _Not in his condition. I don't know how he did that back there. Must've been a burst of energy._ He wordlessly activated his new glider, then called, "Grab on! I'll get us back to the others!"

Zuko acted immediately, grasping the right handle of the glider with his good arm just as Aang took off. _Thank Agni that Yue healed my arm. Otherwise I'd be dead right now._ Zuko thought gratefully and not for the first time as they soared over the foggy canyon.

Landing near the shuttered section of the temple, Aang swiftly retracted the wings of his glider and handed the staff to Zuko, saying, "You need it more than I do, Li." Zuko nodded in thanks, then limped over to where the rest of the Gaang was hiding, using the glider-staff like a walking stick. Katara ran to the fountain, summoned a huge wave, then turned it into thousands of ice-daggers and hurled them at their enemy.

Unfortunately Combustion Man had anticipated an attack like this, and he used his metal appendages as shields to protect the rest of his body. By the time the ice storm had ceased and he was able to look up, however, the Waterbender had retreated around the corner and out of sight. Not able to locate either of his targets, Combustion Man settled for destroying the support pillars that held up the whole temple.

Toph put two hands on the rock wall behind her, shouting in horror: "He's gonna blast this whole place right off the cliff-side!"

Sokka turned to Zuko, who was staring at the ground with a mixture of frustration, anger, and regret on his features. _Why did I even hire this psycho? I must've been out of my mind!_ he thought to himself. _The guy's obsessed with the hunt. He'll never stop, unless he dies. He has only one weakness, but I'd never get close enough to use it. Blast!_

"Hey, Li?" Sokka began, causing the Firebender to jump. "You're from the Fire Nation, so you must've heard about this guy. Does he have any weaknesses? Any way we can beat him?"

"He's a bounty hunter, Sokka. They operate in secret." _Mostly._ Zuko answered dejectedly. "I _do_ know one of his flaws, though: his third eye. If you hit that bull's-eye, it's game over for him. But no one's ever gotten close enough to try." The prince explained.

Katara once more tried an assault, but was forced to retreat as another blast came dangerously close to hitting her. "I can't step out to bend at him without getting blown up!" she gasped in frustration. "And I can't get a good enough angle on him from down here!"

His sister's words sparked a revolutionary idea in Sokka's mind, and you could almost see the lightbulb above his head as the warrior exclaimed, "_I_ know how to get an angle on him!" Swiftly switching spaces with his sister, Sokka peeked around the corner to ascertain the location of the explosive bounty hunter. Another blast filled the air with dust and debris, but Sokka peered out again to make sure his aim would be perfect. Sliding his trusty boomerang out of its pack, he lined it up in the correct direction and muttered, "All right, buddy. Don't fail me now." Then he chucked it as hard and as fast as he could.

The weapon sliced through the air, curving at just the right moment to connect with the metal man's forehead, producing a very satisfying _klunk!_ of metal on bone. The surprised Firebender was knocked backwards onto his back, and the boomerang returned to its owner, who shouted gleefully, "Yeah, Boomerang!" as he leapt up in the air and caught its handle. He beamed up at his adversary, but jubilation turned to disbelief as Combustion Man got back up on his feet, holding his head with his human hand. "Aww, _Boomerang_!" Sokka whined, disappointed that his attack had not worked. Defeated, the Gaang returned behind the wall to protect themselves. "What do we do now?" a disappointed Sokka asked rhetorically.

Sokka's attack had not been fruitless, however. As the cyborg assassin breathed in deeply for another psychic blast, his third eye started producing small, popping explosions in front of the man's face, almost as if it were short-circuiting. Then without warning, the last blast occurred, sending the up-ended pagoda into the abyss below and a silver gauntlet spinning off into oblivion.

After calm and quiet had returned to the temple, three confused faces poked out from behind a wall of the area. Téo, Haru, and The Duke were all wearing the same expression, a look that plainly asked, "What just happened?"

* * *

><p>Later that day, near noon, Katara and Zuko were sitting by the fountain, healing the innumerable injuries on the young Firebender's back. After about two hours, every single mark was gone from the boy's skin, and Katara sighed in relief. "We're getting there, Li." she assured, stopping to rest for a while. "What do you want to work on next?" she asked after a minute.<p>

"Umm–" Zuko paused, disguising his voice as usual. "How about my leg? It'll be easier to get around that way." he suggested.

"Good idea. Katara nodded with a friendly smile, cloaking her hands with the pure liquid. She carefully set Zuko's right leg on the rim of the fountain, then unwound the bandages and removed the boards that Sokka had used as a makeshift brace. The young healer winced when she saw the new scars and burns, and grimaced when she noticed the large bump of Zuko's broken shin bone. She immediately surrounded the leg with the healing water, and concentrated on knitting the bone shafts back together.

_This isn't good. The lower part of the bone is impacted into the upper part. What did he do? Fall from an airship?_ She thought to herself. _It looks like I'll have to re-break the fracture. He's not gonna like that._ Out loud she said, "Hey, Li? Umm, it looks like your leg didn't heal right and the bone is impacted into itself. I hate to do this to you, but I'm gonna have to re-break the bone at the fracture site so that I can heal it properly."

Zuko grimaced, but then replied, "Do what you gotta do," putting a roll of bandages between his teeth. Katara nodded, then manipulated the water that was already in Zuko's leg and froze it, expanding the fracture and spreading apart the pieces of bone. Not wanting to take any more time than was absolutely necessary, the Waterbender straightened and smoothed out the impacted ends of the bone, fitting the jagged ends together carefully and sealing it with a layer of smooth ice. During this time, Zuko was anticipating a stab of pain from his leg as Katara repaired the bone, but to his great surprise, it never came. No great amount of discomfort resulted from the process, and only minor tingles indicated that any healing was taking place.

"How are you doing that?" Zuko asked suddenly as the young woman continued to work on his leg. She looked up in confusion and Zuko elaborated, "How am I not feeling any pain?"

"Oh that's easy. I just numbed the nerves around the site of the break." Katara answered. "Your nervous system allows you to feel pain. I just froze the pain receptors around the fracture and I'll unfreeze them when I'm done, so that you'll be able to feel again in your leg." she explained.

"Wow." Zuko commented. "I never knew that you were so skilled, Katara. If I hadn't been so thick-headed and stubborn, I would've joined up with you guys sooner."

"What do you mean, 'never knew I was so skilled'? Have we met before?" Katara questioned, confused.

"Uh, I mean– I'd heard about all of you guys and your travels around the world, but the storytellers in the Fire Nation always downplay your abilities. They all say things like, 'The Avatar's group may appear to be powerful, but no one could ever be a match against the might of our proud nation and Fire Lord Ozai.' and stuff like that." Zuko covered hastily, and his story _was_ actually true, in part.

"Oh." Katara frowned as she continued to heal Zuko's leg. "Well, no offense Li, but I think that those stories are a load of hot air. Just about everyone in the Fire Nation that I've met were racist, narrow-minded, hotheaded jerks that were so proud that they couldn't even see all the destruction they cause. Even to their own people! The Fire Nation army is made of the worst– _scumbags_ that I've ever had the misfortune to meet. And don't even get me _started_ on the royal family!" she huffed, accidentally squeezing the water around Zuko's leg, making him hiss in pain. "Oops. Sorry." she apologized quickly.

"Hey, no arguments here about the army. That's one of the many reasons I left. And I agree, most of the Fire Lord's family has some serious issues. But General Iroh isn't bad–in my opinion–and you've never met Fire Lady Ursa." Zuko answered, his countenance falling when he remembered his mother.

"Well, okay. Iroh's not _too_ bad." Katara allowed. Then she looked up from her work. "Fire Lady Ursa? Is that– Zuko and Azula's mother?" Without warning, she suddenly recalled what the Fire Nation prince had told her in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se.

–Flashback–

"You have no idea what this war has put me through. Me personally!" Katara sobbed, squatting down and wrapping her arms around her legs, her tears falling to the cold, unfeeling ground beneath her. She silently touched her mother's betrothal necklace as more tears rolled down her face. "The Fire Nation took my mother away from me." she cried, unable to look at her companion, who had–surprisingly–adopted a sympathetic expression.

"I'm sorry." Zuko offered quietly, turning toward the upset girl, who also turned to look at him in response. "That's something we have in common."

–End Flashback–

"Yeah. She was." Zuko answered, his good eye still downcast. "No one knows what happened to her, after she suddenly disappeared one night." _Except for my father._ Zuko added mentally to himself.

"That _almost_ makes me feel sorry for Zuko. Almost." Katara muttered, drawing out the water and returning it to the fountain, as the healing process had been completed. "But then I remember what he did in Ba Sing Se just when I had started to trust him. He betrayed us! Aang _died_ because he sided with his psycho-sister! I'll never forgive him. Never!"

Zuko stayed silent while Katara yelled at him, albeit in a roundabout way. _She has every right to be angry with me._ he thought to himself. _And I feel bad about lying to her about my identity. But I can't come clean yet. Aang needs a Firebending teacher, and I wouldn't be surprised in the least if she kills me when she finds out who I really am. I wouldn't blame her for it, either. Agni, I'm such an idiot!_

"–Li? What's wrong? You look upset." Katara asked, bringing the boy out of his mental self-flogging. "Huh? What?" Zuko asked, clueless as to what her question was. "I just asked if it would be okay to work on your left arm, if that's okay with you." she repeated. "Oh. Sure. Go right ahead." Zuko answered quietly, still distracted.

"You sure nothing's wrong?" Katara prompted, seeing the mental anguish in Zuko's golden eye. When no answer came, she muttered quietly, "The best way to heal emotional wounds is to talk about it. If you ever need it, I'll be there to lend an ear. Metaphorically speaking."

"Thanks Katara." Zuko answered in the same quiet tone, then returned to his pensive state. _That talk wouldn't end well for me, no matter _how_ I phrase it. But it was nice of her to offer._

…

Hours later, Katara had managed to heal all of the scars and wounds on Zuko's arms and legs–as well as mended his broken bone–without his noticing. He was still in his own world, regret and guilt pooling in him as energy pools in the 'Sea of Chi'. As Katara was rolling up the now-superfluous bandages, Zuko stated out of the blue: "I met Prince Zuko once. Recently, in fact. About a month ago."

"You have?" Katara asked absentmindedly, not really paying attention. "What did you think of him?"

"He seemed– regretful. Like he'd done something terrible, something he could never atone for. The guilt was plain in his eyes, burning like a dragon's unquenchable fire. He was still proud–as a prince should be–but he's nothing like Fire Lord Ozai. His scar is proof of that." He answered, catching himself before he could touch the left side of his bandaged face.

"I've always wondered how he got that scar." Katara mused, intrigued about her worst enemy in spite of herself. "Probably a training accident, or one of those awful 'Agni Kai's."

"I'm not sure, but that's what most people assume about him." Zuko half-fibbed. As both benders sat in thoughtful silence, the sound of wood-on-metal carried over to them as Sokka banged a wooden spoon against a frying pan. "Chow time, you two! Eat it before it gets cold!" the Water Tribe warrior called impatiently, earning himself a smirk from the two over by the fountain. Zuko got up carefully and tested his extremities to make sure they worked properly, without any pain. Satisfied with the results, Zuko smiled, then followed Katara to the campfire and sat down to eat; surrounded by the people he had come to think of as friends.

As they ate, The Duke, Téo, and Haru were all shooting mistrusting, furtive glances at the teenaged Firebender, quickly averting their eyes whenever he would glance in their general direction, laughing with the others as Aang told them about a prank he and Gyatso had pulled on the Council of Airbenders. The three boys were listening to the Avatar's tale, but something about Li just unnerved them, and they didn't like it.

"How 'bout you, Li? I bet you've got some fun stories to tell from your past." Aang encouraged, grinning at Zuko with his big, storm-gray eyes. Eyes that not even a hardened Fire-soldier could say 'no' to. Everyone else turned to the ex-prince, who looked down at his legs and turned red, embarrassed by all the attention. He gave a small, apologetic smile to the eager Airbender, then answered, "Sorry Aang. My life isn't bright and happy like yours was. Stories from _my_ past would probably give you nightmares."

"Aww." Aang complained, looking so pathetic in his disappointment that Zuko actually felt guilty. It wasn't _his_ fault that his childhood was like a scenario in most horror stories.

"Well, we could swap _ghost_ stories." Sokka suggested. "Like that time we met Hama in those woods."

"Yeah! I've got some great ones that my Dad used to tell me about the Northern Air temple." Téo interjected, and not needing any more introduction than that, launched right into his story of the ancient temple.

…

Two hours later, it was Li's turn to tell a ghost story. He decided to impart the tale of how he nearly lost his left eye in the Agni Kai that he'd mentioned to a few members of the group. It wasn't a true ghost story, but it would serve the same purpose.

One hour later–

"…If it hadn't been for that kind Waterbending healer, I would've lost my eye for sure. I owe the Water Tribe my life, or at the very least my sight." Zuko finished quietly, giving a small, grateful smile to Katara, who had helped him so much in the past week.

"Wow. And I thought _my_ life was bad." The Duke commented. "It's like the people in the Fire Nation are _born_ evil. With a few exceptions, of course." he observed, feeling sorry for the newest member of Team Avatar.

"That's really interesting though. I never would have thought that cactus juice could be used as a kind of truth serum." Katara observed, cleaning off the dishes after their meal. "Remember that time in the Si Wong desert where Sokka drank it straight from the cactus? He was hallucinating all day!"

"He drank it straight from the plant? There's poison in those!" Zuko gasped, horrified. "Only when it's purified is it safe to drink. You're really lucky that you only had a little bit of it." he said, looking at the wide-eyed warrior.

"I guess somebody up there likes me," Sokka joked, thinking of Yue and grinning up at the moon, which was almost full at its waxing gibbous stage.

"Yeah. And hopefully you learned your lesson and won't do it again." Zuko jokingly admonished, elbowing his friend playfully in the arm. "Yue might not be able to protect you next time."

Sokka chuckled and grinned apologetically, then left the group to drill his sword techniques. After he'd left, the rest of the Gaang dispersed, going off to do their own activities. The Fire Prince yawned and stretched, then walked off to his room to get some rest in preparation for the next day, when he would teach the Avatar Firebending.

What Zuko didn't notice as he left was a silent Earthbender, his green eyes flashing with inspiration. "Very interesting. Cactus juice acts as a truth serum for Firebenders. Now we'll see who this 'Li' character really is."

* * *

><p><span>End of chapter 4<span>

Next chapter teaser: The Firebending Masters

We finally get back to the canon story in the next chapter! Hooray!

I promise we'll get to a little Firebending from Aang and Zuzu in the next chapter, so be patient and bear with me, please.

How will Azula react when she learns that her assassin failed in his mission? And what's up with Mai and Ty Lee?

Uh-oh. Better watch your back, Zuko, 'cause Haru's got a plan to expose you! (Hey, they gotta find out _sometime_!)

Until next chapter!

Tsunami Storm


	5. The Firebending Masters sort of

Chapter 5: The Firebending Masters –sort of.

* * *

><p>"Knock knock!" a bright, cheerful voice sounded outside of a stately mansion in the palace city. The owner of the voice waited patiently outside of the door, and smiled wider when it opened.<p>

"Oh! Ty Lee! It's good to see you!" the noble lady smiled as she opened the door wider to admit the acrobat. "Come in, I'm sure Mai will be delighted that you're here!" she invited, bustling off to find some refreshments for her daughter's close friend. Ty Lee closed the door behind her as she bounced into her friend's house, feeling right at home in the place she had visited thousands of times in her childhood.

"Mai! Ty Lee's here to see you! Come downstairs and say hello!" the noblewoman called to her daughter, who was apparently up in her room. In the living room area, Mai's little brother Tom-Tom giggled happily as he played with some new toys, having the time of his life. Ty Lee smiled at the toddler, glad that his life was all smiles and games, peaceful, unlike his previous life in Omashu. Although, _he'd_ probably enjoyed that little incident with the Avatar's pet lemur and the 'kidnapping' misunderstanding.

By this time Mai had come downstairs, and the acrobat embraced her friend as if they hadn't seen each other in months rather than hours. Princess Azula had called a meeting with her closest advisers and friends the previous day, to discuss strategy concerning the resistance movements in the once-Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se. Ty Lee hadn't paid much attention at that meeting, being more concerned with the strange absence of a certain member of the Royal Family. She'd asked all of the palace staff, but they'd all said that they had seen no sign of Prince Zuko ever since the Eclipse. Somehow she'd even managed to summon the courage to ask the Fire Lord himself about it, between two of the endless meetings that he was constantly holding. He'd given her a cryptic answer–as always–that revealed no information whatsoever on the whereabouts of his son. That alone was enough to cause a blossom of suspicion to bloom in the back of her mind.

Bringing her thoughts back to the present, Ty Lee looked at her oldest friend's face and noticed something was off. "What's the matter, Mai? You're looking more down than usual, and that's saying something."

"Oh just read it." the girl huffed, thrusting a rolled-up scroll at her friend and sitting down on the couch in the living room, watching her baby brother play with a carefully-blank expression on her face. Ty Lee looked at her friend quizzically and cocked her head, then unrolled the scroll to see what had been written within.

_"Dear Mai,_

_I'm sorry that you have to find out this way, but I'm leaving. This life, being home in the Fire Nation, it's not my destiny. Don't get me wrong, it's all that I've wanted over the past three years, but it's not at _all_ how I thought it would be._

_Something's happened to me, something I can't really explain. I'm not the same person that I was three years ago. For so long, I thought that capturing the Avatar was my destiny, to regain my honor and come home a hero. But when I returned home with Azula, it felt– wrong. I was the perfect prince, the son my father wanted; but I wasn't _me_. That night on Ember Island was the night I realized my true destiny. It's not to capture and destroy the nations' last hope for peace, but to restore balance to the world._

_I wish there was some way that I could make you understand, but that's not how our relationship works, is it? I'm sorry, Mai, but in order for this war to end, I need to sacrifice my own needs for the good of the world._

_Goodbye._

_Zuko"_

"He's gone? That's it?" Ty Lee gasped, flipping the scroll over to see if more had been written on the other side. It was blank, so she carefully re-rolled the scroll and set it on the tea-table in the middle of the room.

"That's it." Mai repeated tonelessly, once again hiding her true feelings and emotions behind a mask of stone. She would not let anyone see her tears, especially not 'drama queen' Ty Lee. She'd flip, metaphorically speaking. If Zuko thought she wasn't good enough for him, then she decided that he wasn't good enough for her. _Fine, Zuko. Go ahead and dump me. See if I care._

"Oh Mai." the acrobat sniffed, walking up to her friend and embracing her again, only this time her tears were of sadness and not of joy like they usually were. "I'm so sorry. I know how you felt about him."

"No, you don't. You don't know anything about me." _And apparently, neither did he._ "I don't care about that jerk. If he wants to leave, I say, 'Go right ahead. Don't let the door hit you in the backside on the way out.'" she growled, the tiniest bit of hurt leaking through her iron-clad emotional wall and into her voice.

Ty Lee continued to kneel at her friend's side, but then stood up a minute later and walked to the door, feeling that her friend wanted to be alone for a while. As she opened the door to leave, she turned back and said quietly, "I just came over to see if you wanted to get a cup of tea with me. I know this great little place downtown that just opened up. Apparently it's an offshoot of a tea shop in Ba Sing Se called 'The Jasmine Dragon'. But I can see now that you wanna be alone. So, I– I'll see you around. I guess." she murmured, then left the house, closing the door quietly behind her.

…

Hours later, after commissioning a Fire Nation messenger-hawk from the palace mail carriers, Ty Lee walked to the outskirts of town with the bird on her right wrist and a sizable package under her left arm. She had selected a larger bird for this particular delivery, as a normal-sized messenger-hawk wouldn't be able to carry the very special item that she was trying her best to conceal. However, the package had been hastily wrapped, and occasionally a gleam of metal could be spotted when the fabric slipped around the object.

As human and bird reached the edge of the city, Ty Lee turned to the feathered fowl and addressed it directly, "Okay, 'Razor-wing'." she said to the eagle-hawk. "I've got an important job for you. I need you to take this to Prince Zuko. I'm not exactly sure where he is, so you'll have to search. Just look for a human who looks like this." she pulled a scroll off of her back and unrolled it, showing the hastily-drawn but amazingly accurate drawing of the son of the Fire Lord to the bird. Ty Lee had sketched it from memory, drawing on the moments of that vacation on Ember Island. It depicted Zuko in his everyday robes, his hair down and framing his face nicely, slightly obscuring his awful scar.

The bird studied the drawing for a good minute, peering at it with its golden-orange eye. Once it had memorized its target, it cried once with a proud screech. Ty Lee smiled at the bird and added, "I understand that this may be hard, so I'll give you an alternate option. If you can't find Zuko, take this package and letter to the Avatar and his friends. I'd bet a month's allowance that's where he's headed. I think they're at the Western Air Temple. You know where that is, right?"

The bird called once in confirmation, then held out its talons one by one so that the girl could tie the package to them. Once that was finished, she slipped the scroll into the message container and clasped it shut. Inspiration suddenly striking her, she untied a ribbon from the end of her braid and fastened it to the container. Only Zuko would know what the pink ribbon meant. As her hair slowly untied itself in the warm breeze and blew out behind her, Ty Lee smiled as she released the mighty hunter into the sky, praying to Agni that it would find its quarry swiftly.

_I'm sure those will come in handy for you on your journey, Zuko. May Agni's blessings be showered upon you, and good luck shine on you._ she thought as the eagle-hawk disappeared behind a cloud. _Mai may be emotionally constipated when it comes to her feelings about you, but I haven't given up hope. I know that you still love her._ Then she turned and walked back to the new Jasmine Dragon to order a cup of calming tea of the same name, her nerves frazzled in knowing that she had consciously committed treason.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, said prince was sitting by the fountain of the ancient air temple, washing off his face and hissing when the cold water met his open wounds. He silently thanked Agni that no one else had woken up yet, so that his identity could remain a secret while he performed the simple tasks to prepare for the day. After he was finished, he found a bundle of clean bandages and re-wrapped his face, taking special care to completely cover the left half, even if it meant obscuring the vision that his left eye provided. Not that it provided much as it was.<p>

As he considered all of the scars and wounds that marked his visage, old and relatively new, he seriously considered abandoning his façade and telling the Gaang the truth about his identity. However, this notion was savagely pushed aside when he considered Katara's potential reaction. He knew that she was strong enough to end him right where he stood, and so fast that he probably wouldn't even feel it until it was all over.

_No. She wouldn't let me get off that easily, with a quick, painless death. Something tells me that she would drag it out for as long as possible. Make me feel all the pain that I've caused her and her friends over the months._ Zuko's pessimistic side thought dejectedly.

_Katara wouldn't do that. She's too kindhearted to actually _kill_ someone. She doesn't have it in her to just end someone in cold blood like that. Give her some credit._ Zuko's more hopeful side argued, but he could tell that this side of him was fighting a losing battle.

"Are you kidding me? You heard what she said when she was yelling at us about the cave-incident in Ba Sing Se! I mean, she wasn't yelling at Li directly, but still, 'Li' and 'Zuko' are the same guy." a miniature version of himself cried, appearing on the Fire Prince's left shoulder. This tiny Zuko looked like he had in the months leading up to the siege at the North Pole, complete with topknot and shaved head.

"Yeah, but we also saw how concerned she was when she was healing our injuries." another mini-version shot back, appearing on Zuko's right shoulder. This incarnation looked like he had on that vacation to Ember Island, his hair long and falling in his eyes a bit, his scar barely noticeable underneath. "We could see the genuine compassion and righteous anger in those beautiful blue eyes of hers. She's angry at the 'Commander'–aka our father–not us."

"I don't think she's made the connection yet, other me." normal-sized Zuko commented, turning to his 'good' shoulder-self. "I don't know if she realizes that my father and my sister are the ones who taught me to act that way, and convinced me to act based on my own selfish desires." he sighed as both of his shoulder-incarnations vanished, leaving him alone with his thoughts once again. _I guess Time will be the way to convince her that I mean no harm to her or any other innocent. My only concern should be the Avatar's training, to make sure that when the time comes, he's ready to face my father._

His thoughts straying back to Katara, particularly her appearance, Zuko came to an intriguing realization. _Do I really think that Katara has beautiful eyes? She is quite pretty. But she's _Aang's_ girlfriend. And _I've_ got someone special already too._ Then he snorted quietly. _Besides, even if that weren't the case, and despite the developing bond of trust and friendship between me and Sokka, I don't think he'd like it very much if I started liking his little sister in _that_ way. It's best if we just leave it at 'friends'. If I ever make it that far as myself–_

"Ahh, who'm I kidding? When Katara finds out who I really am, I'm dead." he groaned to himself, and Sokka interjected, "Yeah, probably."

Zuko jumped about a foot in the air when the Water Tribe warrior suddenly announced his presence out of nowhere, put a hand over his heart when he landed, and gasped, "Agni above! Don't _do_ that, Sokka! Do you want to give me a heart attack?"

"Sorry, man. I didn't mean to scare ya. I was just getting a cup of water." the other teenager apologized, looking appropriately abashed.

"It's fine. You just startled me, is all." Zuko shrugged, calming himself with a deep breath and smiling slightly at the other teenager. He then looked back in the water and adjusted his bandages, which had slipped slightly when he'd jumped.

"So when are you boys gonna quit this little charade?" a young voice sounded from their side. Zuko and Sokka gasped and turned to the source, and saw that Toph had woken up as well and approached them without their noticing.

"What charade? I don't know what you're talking about, Toph." Sokka lied, feigning ignorance. Zuko didn't bother and just looked guilty.

"Come on, Snoozles. I know that's not 'Li'." she smirked, pointing at the Fire prince. "He's Zuko, the son of the Fire Lord."

"How'd you know?" Zuko asked dejectedly, resigning himself to his fate now that his secret was out.

"Oh, I overheard you guys talking a few days ago. Since I'm blind, my other senses are more acute than most people. You really oughta be more careful. Someone else could hear you and tell the rest of the Gaang." Toph explained, folding her arms and looking smug.

"All right. You know who I am. What do you want?" Zuko sighed, preparing himself for the worst. He didn't know the young Earthbender girl very well, so he didn't know if she was the type to blackmail people.

"Nothing." Toph stated in surprise, confused that Zuko would ask that. "I was just warning you that you should be more discreet. If you wanna avoid the wrath of the 'Ice Queen', I suggest that you find a place a bit more private to 'be yourself'." the Blind Bandit commented with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders.

"Thank you, Toph. You have no idea how much it means to me that you're willing to keep my secret." Zuko sighed in relief, smiling at the Earthbender, who felt the expression through the vibrations and smiled back.

"All right! Today's the day I finally get to learn some Firebending!" Aang whispered loudly as he jumped off Appa's tail and breezed over to the two boys by the fountain by riding his now-famous airball-scooter. "Are you ready to teach me, Sifu Li?" he asked excitedly, looking over at the boy who had once been his worst enemy, and not even realizing that fact.

"I think a better question is 'Are you ready to _learn_, Avatar'?" Zuko asked back with a slightly teasing expression on the little bit of his face that could be seen. Aang made a face at him, and they both laughed. Then they made their way to an upside-down pagoda that was out of the way so that they could practice.

"You know Li, you're voice sounds oddly familiar to me, but I just can't place it. Have we met before?" Aang asked Zuko innocently, looking at the Firebender, who had frozen in his tracks. "What's wrong?" the Airbender asked, looking at his friend in concern. By this time the two benders–teacher and student–had reached the training area. Zuko sighed, finally coming to a decision with his battling emotions. "I feel like I can trust you, Aang. But I need you to promise me something. And not just a regular promise, either. I need the _Avatar's assurance_ that you will not tell anyone, _anyone_, about what you are about to see."

Aang nodded solemnly, completely serious, then made an 'X' sign over his heart and pointed to his arrow, swearing that he would keep the secret. Zuko sighed deeply, then started removing the bandages that covered almost all of his face. The Avatar gasped in horror when he saw all the scars that crisscrossed his newest friend's face. But out of all the wounds, one scar stood out from the rest.

"_Zuko_?" Aang asked incredulously, hardly daring to believe that his kind-yet-strict firebending teacher was the son of the Fire Lord that had chased him and his friends all over the world.

"Yeah. It's me." Zuko admitted, rewarding the dumbstruck Airbender with a shy, sheepish smile. "You once said that you thought we could be friends. I'm finally taking you up on that offer, by becoming your Firebending teacher." he joked to lighten the mood, and the thirteen-year-old just continued to gape at him.

…

After a few minutes of open-mouth staring, Zuko was feeling extremely uncomfortable and kept shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "Please say something." he pleaded, looking at the boy apprehensively.

"I– I just can't believe it. My newest friend was my greatest enemy." Aang breathed, and Zuko hung his head in shame, remembering everything that he had done in the past few months. "I mean, I'll keep my promise. I won't tell a soul. It's just– unbelievable." he repeated, shaking his head in wonder.

"Well you need to learn Firebending, so whatever you do, don't tell Katara. I know that she's your girlfriend, and that you probably don't keep any secrets from one another, but if you wanna keep your Firebending teacher, keep calling me 'Li'." _'cause if you don't, I'm dead._ Zuko added, keeping that last part to himself.

…

"All right. We're gonna do this just like last time, so you might wanna take a few steps back." Zuko cautioned, and Aang retreated to the wall, eager to see what his teacher was really capable of, and not get shot at. Zuko took a deep breath in through his nose and breathed slowly out through his mouth, just as his uncle had taught him. He then thrust his fist into midair–

–and produced a fire shot about the size of a baseball. "What was _that_?" he recoiled in confusion. "That was the worst Firebending I've ever _seen_!" he cried, facing his palms up in a 'what-is-wrong' gesture.

"I thought it was– nice." Aang shrugged, ever the optimist. Zuko grunted again and bent his element in rapid succession. All his flames were small like the first. He growled in frustration and stared at his palms. "Argh! Why is this happening?" he asked himself angrily.

"Maybe it's the altitude." Aang shrugged, offering a suggestion to try to calm his friend down.

Zuko raised an eyebrow at him, but then answered, "Yeah. Could be." then he turned away from the young Avatar, his confused expression melting away to be replaced with one that was unsure and lost.

They decided to move to another training area, this one closer to the main 'gathering area' of the temple. Zuko kept practicing, becoming more and more frustrated as his efforts produced feebler and weaker flames. "Just breathe, and–" he thrust his fist outward, producing the weakest flame yet.

"Hey guys." Sokka greeted as he walked up, but then froze mid-step as he noticed Zuko's lack of bandages on his head. Zuko turned around, winked slyly with his 'good' eye, then turned back to Aang.

"Oh, I guess you told him." Sokka surmised after a minute of soundless mouthing. "More like he figured it out." Zuko corrected with a grin to the sheepish Avatar, who was also smiling.

"Okay then." Sokka shrugged, then asked, "So, mind if I watch you two 'jerks' do your 'jerkbending'?"

"Really, Sokka? _Really_?" Zuko raised an eyebrow at the warrior, and Sokka laughed. "Chill! I was just kidding! But seriously, you mind if I watch?"

"Normally you'd be _welcome_ to watch. But–" Zuko faltered, wondering how best to describe his problem to the Water Tribe teenager. "I'm gonna be telling the group later, so you can find out then." he dodged the question, choosing to explain himself after he'd had time to find the right words.

* * *

><p>High above where the boys were talking, near the forest, The Duke was practicing his forest exploration techniques so that he could better track game and be of use to the group of friends. An eagle-hawk screamed overhead, and the young boy looked up just as the large bird swooped in. He put out his arm so that the fowl could land on it, and the hawk gratefully accepted the offer of the perch. The Duke cocked his head quizzically when he noticed the rather large object tied to its talons, and untied the parcel and set it beside him. Then he opened the message tube and slipped off the pink ribbon, unrolling the scroll and reading the six simple words written in elegant script.<p>

"_'To Team Avatar, from a fan.'_ Huh. Wonder what it could be?" he questioned, then shrugged. It was addressed to the Gaang, so he'd open it later when everyone was gathered for dinner.

* * *

><p>Hours later, back at the temple–<p>

Li/Zuko had just finished explaining his predicament and plan to remedy it to the group, and they all had agreed to let him and Aang take a little 'field trip'. After Zuko rejoined the circle of friends, The Duke returned to the group and sat down by Li, putting the mysterious parcel in front of him where everyone could see it.

"What's that?" Katara asked the boy, and he grinned.

"Fan mail. Apparently someone out there in the world likes us enough to send us this gift with not so much as a name, just a pink satin ribbon tied to the message. What's even more interesting is that they got an eagle-hawk to deliver it, and those are _Fire Nation_ messenger birds." he held up the ribbon as he talked, and Zuko cocked his head.

"May I?" he asked, and the boy nodded, handing him the simple accessory. _It can't be–_ he thought as he studied the ribbon in his hands. _Ty Lee? Why would _she_ send us something? I thought she was Azula's friend._

"Well, why don't we open the package and see what this 'fan' sent us?" Sokka asked excitedly, sitting on The Duke's other side. Without waiting for permission, he grabbed the package and proceeded to unwrap it as hastily as he could, unveiling a pair of finely-crafted Dao swords. Zuko's eyes widened when he recognized the weapons, as they were his. He'd last seen them when he'd faced his father during the eclipse. _How in the world–? Ty Lee, you are something else._ Zuko smiled to himself as he thought of the acrobat, who was apparently far more complex than he'd first thought.

"Swords? Who would send us swords?" Katara asked, flummoxed. She watched as Li carefully removed one of the blades, then the other as he stood up, his motions as fluid and graceful as the water. She realized that the two blades fit with the warrior perfectly, as if they were made especially for him. As he proceeded to test them out, that feeling only intensified.

"Wow, Li. I never knew you were skilled with dual swords." she breathed, utterly entranced by the blades as they shone in the firelight as the young man moved them with the skills of a master.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Katara." Zuko grinned back as he winked mischievously, but the expression didn't extend to his eyes, which were clouded with worry and regret. Good thing that he was sitting in the shadows, slightly away from the campfire. Calming his expression, he thought to himself, _We're gonna have to leave pretty early tomorrow morning. I hope I can get Appa to cooperate._ Glancing over at Aang, who was sitting next to his girlfriend Katara, Zuko couldn't help but feel a sense of loss and regret. Seeing those two together reminded him of Mai.

_I'm so sorry, Mai. I should've explained myself better. But I just couldn't face you. Somehow I knew that if I saw you just _once_, I would never have been able to leave. And I couldn't drag you into it either. I love you too much for that._

* * *

><p>The next morning, long after Zuko and Aang had left, Katara sat up from her sleeping bag and stretched, then walked over to the water fountain to wash up and get ready for the day. Since Aang wasn't here and Li was absent as well, she wouldn't need to drill the Avatar in his Waterbending forms or heal the rest of her friend's injuries, the ones on his face. Katara wondered why he was so reluctant to reveal what was under those bandages, since everyone expected it to be horrific anyway, but then shrugged. <em>He's just shy. He'll come around eventually.<em>

Turning to the side, she noticed a bundle of linen strips that had been neatly sewn together laying by the side of the fountain. She picked up one end of it, and smiled when she noticed the hemmed edges. _So Li knows how to sew as well! He just keeps revealing unexpected skills, doesn't he?_

Then she came to a realization. "Doesn't he need these? I thought the wounds on his face were the worst. If he's with Aang without his bandages, the wounds could get infected! That wouldn't be good at all!" In the back of her mind, she wondered, _I wonder what he really looks like under all those bandages. He can't be more than a year older than Sokka. He's probably really handsome without all those scars. I wish he'd let me heal them already._

Shaking her head, she abruptly changed tack. "Nah. He's smart enough to know that. He probably found some clean ones this morning and re-wrapped them around his injuries." she dropped the bandages in the fountain to clean them off, then sighed. "Come back safely, you two."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Zuko and Aang were en route to the ancient ruins. "Man. Those scars look terrible. I can't believe you didn't die from those and all the other ones you had when we first met you. As 'Li', anyway." Aang observed quietly as he looked back at Zuko from Appa's head, and the prince just shrugged.<p>

"I'm a survivor. When I was a boy, my uncle sent me a souvenir from the war-front at Ba Sing Se. It was a finely-crafted pearl dagger, from the general who surrendered when they broke through the outer wall. The words engraved on it became my philosophy from then on. 'Never give up without a fight'. I live by that inscription, and that–I am convinced–is the _only_ reason I survived the torture from my father and Azula in that airship after the Eclipse." Zuko explained, not ashamed in the slightest about what he had done and the resulting punishment. "Although if it hadn't been for Yue healing my right arm and Sokka's help, I definitely wouldn't have survived more than a few days in that little forest above the temple."

"So Sokka found you, and Yue healed your arm?" Aang summarized, and Zuko nodded, suddenly grinning as a new thought occurred to him. _I bet that Lu Ten had something to do with Yue's visit. That sounds like something he would do._ "That's really unexpected. I mean, the only time that you two met was at the North Pole, and you were unconscious for most of that time." Aang commented after Zuko had finished with his thoughts.

"Just because we never spoke when she was alive, doesn't mean that she couldn't watch over all of us from the Spirit World." Zuko shrugged. "That's what she told me, anyway. She's been watching over all of you, and apparently _me_ too." He felt another pang of guilt as he remembered that it was partially _his_ fault that she had to die, but then shook his head. _I already apologized for that, and she forgave me. There's no sense in dwelling on the past._

_You really are something, Yue._ Aang thought. _And I thought _I_ was the optimistic one. You saw a spark of good in the prince of the Fire Nation, someone I had already given up on, deemed irredeemable. I'll try to be more like you from now on._ Aang promised, surreptitiously putting a finger to his arrow and crossing his heart, just as he had the previous day when he had promised to keep Zuko's identity a secret.

* * *

><p>As day gradually faded to evening, and evening to night, one member of the larger Team Avatar did not agree with the rest about their newest companion. He didn't trust the Firebender, a distrust that ran deep into his past, when the Fire Nation had taken over the simple mining village where he, his mother and his father had lived. He had never forgiven the Army for taking his father to that awful prison on that coal rig, so the fact that Li had said that he had served in the Fire Nation's armed forces caused a seed of doubt to sprout in the teenaged Earthbender's mind.<p>

"Soon, Li. Very soon I'll show everyone who you really are. A heartless monster, just like all the other soldiers in the Fire Nation. The Avatar won't be so eager to train with you then." he plotted, thinking through his master 'reveal' plan, making sure no detail was overlooked. He pulled a small flask out of his pocket, which he had bartered a few weeks ago from a merchant in the Earth Kingdom. The flask–the merchant had assured–contained just a small amount of concentrated cactus juice, or one of the most powerful truth serums that the world had discovered.

_He's gonna get what he deserves._ The Earthbender smiled, ignoring the twinge of guilt he felt at what he was planning. Li couldn't be more than a year older than he was, and yet he had been in the Army and exposed to their evil and cruelty. _The Fire Nation will pay. I swear it!_

* * *

><p>"You <em>had<em> to pick up the glowing egg, didn't you?" Aang accused sarcastically, glaring at Zuko out of the corner of his eye. If only the Firebender had listened to him and left the gem alone, but _no_, he had to pick it up and trigger all of this sticky goo. He'd never get his glider back.

"At least I made something happen. If it were up to you, we would've never even made it past the courtyard!" Zuko shot back defensively, embarrassed that he had put the two of them in this situation, but not about to admit it.

"HELP!" Aang cried, using all of the air in his lungs and opening his mouth wider than Zuko would have ever thought possible to produce the loud outcry.

"_Who_ are you yelling to? No one's lived here for centuries!" Zuko asked, confused as to the Avatar's plan.

"Well, what do _you_ suggest we do, then?" Aang retorted, annoyed.

Zuko turned pensive. "Think about our place in the universe?" he suggested, not really considering the idea.

"Hmm. Maybe." Aang allowed, calming down a bit.

…

"–You know, I never wanted to be the Avatar." Aang admitted a while later to his trapped companion. "I found out accidentally when I was eavesdropping on Monk Gyatso and the other council of Airbenders. Traditionally, I wasn't supposed to know until I turned sixteen."

"I guess I never considered it." Zuko answered, pensive and reflective himself. "With all the amazing things you can do, and that Avatar State of yours, it's easy to forget that underneath it all, you're still just a kid, not even in your teens yet."

"Well, technically I'm 113 years old." Aang grinned back, and Zuko laughed. "Yeah. I couldn't believe it when I first met you in the South Pole. I expected you to be a fully-realized master of all the elements. The _last_ thing I was expecting was a goofy kid to come riding in on an otter-penguin."

"Yeah. That was fun! You should try it sometime, Zuko!" Aang laughed, remembering the incident as if it had happened only yesterday.

"Nah. I'm not that great with animals. Besides, the penguins would probably all run away from me, the way I look." Zuko declined, trying to point to his face, but failing due to the glue that held fast his hands.

"I've always wondered about that scar, the one you had when we first met." Aang admitted in curiosity. "How did that happen? Was it an accident in Firebending training, or what?"

"You really wanna know? It'll probably give you nightmares." Zuko asked, but Aang nodded anyway.

…

"Oh, man. I can't believe it. Your own _father_." Aang breathed, utterly mortified at his friend's story.

"Yeah. These newest ones I got from my sister, when she tortured me in the airship shortly before exiling me to that forest. But my first scar is a constant reminder of my shame and disgrace. All for speaking out of turn." Zuko sighed, somewhat relieved that he could finally tell someone the truth about his past.

"So that story that you told everyone else, that was all true, except for the part where you said you were in the army?" Aang asked, and Zuko nodded. "Well, that and my name. 'Li' is the name I used when Uncle and I were traveling in the Earth Kingdom. But other than that everything else is the truth. And I made up the 'Commander' part too. I didn't want to give too much away, otherwise you guys would've figured it out too quickly."

"Wow." Aang breathed, and was about to say something else when all of a sudden a sandaled foot stepped into their view.

"Who is down there?" an unfamiliar voice boomed, and Zuko and Aang looked up in confusion.

* * *

><p>Days later, back at the temple–<p>

"With this technique the dragons showed us, Li and I will be unstoppable." Aang states with excitement as he and his friend demonstrated the Firebending forms that Ran and Shao had taught them. As they finished, they bowed, and everyone applauded.

Sokka couldn't resist teasing the two a little bit, and he commented, "Yeah, that's a great dance you two learned there."

Getting defensive, Zuko retorted, "It's not a dance. It's a Firebending form."

Continuing his joke, Sokka teased, "We'll just tap-dance our way to victory over the Fire Lord."

Zuko wasn't amused. He walked over to Sokka and growled, "It's a sacred form that happens to be _thousands_ of years old!"

Katara grinned and decided to take her brother's side for once. "Oh yeah? What's your little form called?"

Embarrassed, Zuko made a face. "The Dancing Dragon."

The group laughed again at that, especially the amusing expression on 'Li's face. Zuko tried to still his temper, finally releasing it as a shrug.

* * *

><p><span>End of chapter 5<span>

Next chapter teaser: The Boiling Rock, Part 1. Kinda.

Whew! Finally finished this one! Took me long enough, huh? Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

I did my best with Zuko's letter to Mai. I think it sounds like something he would say. Any alterations or suggestions you may have are more than welcome, though. _Hint. Hint._

Apparently Iroh's tea was so good, The Jasmine Dragon was able to open up another tea shop in the Fire Nation! And in the capitol city no less! XD

I don't know about Haru. He's kinda acting out of character here. But revenge has a way of tainting one's personality, so that's what I'm going with. Uh-oh Zuko, you better watch out, he's getting closer to exposing you!

Speaking of which, Aang finally knows. Hope I got him in character.

Oh, and if you're wondering when Azula is going to appear next, this story will pretty much follow the show from this point, but with a little twist on things. Instead of just writing what we saw in the show–the lazy way–I'll try my best to illustrate the parts we _didn't_ see, mainly the rest of the Gaang's activities while various members go on their little 'field trips' with Zuko. Wish me luck!

Tsunami Storm


	6. The Boiling Rock, Part 1

Unexpected chapter 6

The Boiling Rock Part 1 –kinda.

* * *

><p>The full moon shone overhead above the Western Air Temple, and Yue smiled down on her group of friends as they sat together finishing their evening meal. Zuko was walking around the group, serving mugs of tea to everyone. Suddenly he commented, "No one can make tea like Uncle, but hopefully I learned a thing or two. Would you like to hear Uncle's favorite tea joke?" he asked brightly, smiling a little at the group.<p>

"Sure." Katara answered, intrigued, and Aang agreed with her. "I like jokes."

"Bring it." Toph challenged excitedly.

Zuko began, "Okay. Well I can't remember how it starts, but the punch line is: 'Leaf me alone, I'm bushed'!" he paused for a bit and made a funny face when he realized that his 'funny joke' wasn't funny at all, and everyone looked at him with an odd expression. "Well, it's funnier when Uncle tells it." he hedged, embarrassed.

Katara giggled. "Right. Maybe that's because he _remembers_ the whole thing." she teased, grinning at Zuko.

Aang laughed with the rest of the Gaang and helped himself to a cup from the tray that Zuko was carrying. Zuko smiled softly, still a little embarrassed. He walked over to kneel at Sokka's side as Toph commented, "It's nice to get a chance to relax a little. It hardly ever happens."

Zuko silently agreed with her, then offered the last cup to the young man who had saved his life. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" the boy in question asked, and Zuko cocked his head in confusion, wondering what the Water Tribe warrior could be up to. Sokka stood to his feet and started walking over to where Appa was resting. Zuko put his tray down and followed after a second.

* * *

><p>As Sokka and 'Li' walked off, Katara spoke up as a thought just struck her. "Hey, did Li just mention an uncle who loves tea? There's only <em>one<em> person that I know like that, and his name's certainly not 'Li'."

"Probably a coincidence, Katara." Toph shrugged, sipping from her mug and feigning nonchalance. Katara was getting dangerously close to figuring out Sparky's little secret. And if she did, Zuko was in a _world_ of trouble. "Lots of people like tea, and lots of people have uncles. It's a good guess that there are at least a few people that fall into both categories." she tilted her head in the approximate direction of her friend and gave an encouraging little smirk, hoping to derail this hazardous train of thought.

But Katara would not be dissuaded. _There's only one person I know that calls his uncle 'Uncle'. Why didn't I see it before?! Li and this person are both Firebenders, they're about the same build, both have tea-loving uncles– and I'm willing to bet that he's been wearing those bandages over his face to cover his scar! 'Li' is none other than Prince Zuko!_ A murderous glow entered her normally beautiful blue eyes as she glared over at the place where Sokka and Li–no, _Zuko_–were talking about something.

By the way Katara's heartbeat suddenly sped up, Toph could tell that the young Waterbending master had finally figured it out. If she didn't try something, Aang was gonna have to find a new teacher for sure! "Wait Katara, it's not what you think!" the blind Earthbender gasped, then she amended, "Okay maybe it is, but just think about it for a sec. Ever since Sokka found this guy in the woods, he's been nothing but a friend to all of us. He's taught Aang a _ton_ about Firebending, he's helped you with chores, hey, he even gets along with the other boys. Especially Sokka, and he was as stubborn as _you_ about trusting him. Why don'cha give him a chance?"

"Never!" Katara cried, glaring at her friend now, though the murderous glint was softened slightly. She didn't want to kill _Toph_. "You don't know all the terrible things he's done to us! You weren't there when he had us attacked by pirates, or when he burned down Kyoshi Island, or when he kidnapped Aang at the North Pole! Not to mention when he betrayed us in the Ba Sing Se catacombs! Aang _died_ because he sided with his psycho sister! If I hadn't had that Spirit Water–" she trailed off, the memory still too painful for her to continue.

"Yeah, he might have done all those things _before_, but he's changed now, Katara. I can _feel_ it. When I first met him–when we all banded together to face Azula–I could feel the tension in him. And I could tell it wasn't just from the heat of the moment. I could feel the conflict boiling within him, as if he was constantly struggling with himself, fighting between what he was taught and what he _knew_ was right." Toph explained, and Katara relaxed a little, interested in spite of herself.

"But I can't feel that anymore from him." she continued. "It's as if he's completely calm inside. No tension, no boiling anger or internal battles, just a calm, steady, strong heartbeat and controlled breathing. He's actually able to smile and laugh now, something he could never have done before, not with that inner conflict of his. It's like he turned around completely. He's on a totally different path now, one completely opposite of the road to destruction that he was on. And believe it or not, this has actually made him _stronger_, too. As a person and as a bender." she smiled, somehow proud of the young man in a motherly way, even though he was at least four years her senior.

"I don't care! I know what's really going on, this is all just an elaborate plan to gain Aang's trust and then capture him again! I'm not gonna let that happen!" Katara seethed, clinging onto her position with an unrelenting death-grip.

"Katara, are you listening to yourself?" Toph asked, incredulous. "If he'd wanted to kidnap Aang, he would've done it any time during the days they were gone learning Firebending from the dragons, don'cha think?"

"It was too early then. He needs everyone to trust him completely before he strikes! Lucky for us, I figured out his secret just in time. He's never going to hurt Aang. I'll stake my life on that." she breathed murderously, the gleam back in her eyes and stronger than ever. She stood to her feet and walked slowly over to the balcony, where Zuko and Sokka were still talking. Toph sighed worriedly. _I hope Zuko's strong enough to survive Katara's wrath. And if he's not, I hope Katara's strong enough not to kill him. Aang _did_ learn a lot from the dragons, true, but he's no Firebending master yet. He still needs Zuko._

In a last ditch effort to turn Katara away from the boys, Toph sighed loudly, so that she could hear, "I'm beginning to wonder who's really the blind one around here."

"Stay out of this, Toph. You just don't understand." Katara snarled back as she turned around, only to turn right back in the direction of her brother and her greatest enemy.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Katara. What's up?" asked Sokka in a falsely-cheerful voice as he passed her on his way back to the group around the fire, but his sister didn't notice, too focused was she on her task, what she thought she had to do. <em>Eh, she probably just needs to ask him about something. Maybe she's gonna work on those scars and wounds on his face.<em> he thought as he shrugged and sat back down by his friends.

"Hey, Li." Katara greeted in the same falsely-cheerful voice as Sokka had, though hers was barely concealing murderous thoughts. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Zuko raised an eyebrow in a moment of amusement. Sokka had just asked him that same question less than a minute ago! He and his sister were more alike than he'd thought. "Uh, sure." he answered, wondering what the Waterbender could be up to.

Katara started walking to the stairs that led to the cliff above the temple. She motioned for him to follow, saying, "It's kinda personal. I don't want the others to overhear. Can we go up to the woods?" Her voice almost betrayed the boiling anger and hatred burning just beneath the surface of her mask, but luckily Zuko didn't notice. He nodded with a small smile of what seemed to be encouragement, then followed the young Waterbender out of the temple and up to the small copse of trees where Sokka had first found him.

Katara kept up her ruse as they walked deeper and deeper into the wood, finally stopping when they came to a small clearing. The full moon shone directly overhead, and Zuko smiled a little in wonder at the picture it made. It was as if a lunar spotlight was shining on the spot where Yue had saved him by healing his arm. All the rest of the trees were still covered in shadows. He silently walked to the center of the clearing, not noticing that Katara was no longer beside him. For some reason, she had stayed back in the darkness.

"This is where Sokka found me," he explained quietly to her, looking back at his friend with a slightly sheepish smile. He would have continued, if not for the ice he suddenly noticed surrounding the camp and in his friend's sapphire eyes. _No, it's not ice in her eyes. It's fire. Blue, fiery hatred. Why is she looking at me like that? I've never given her any reason to doubt Li– Oh no._ he realized as his heart suddenly dropped to somewhere near his stomach.

Katara did not speak, only glared murderously at the boy she'd thought was her friend. An ally. Zuko didn't see her movements, only felt the sudden rush of air as an extremely sharp icicle suddenly shot up from the ground and tore off the remaining bandages on his face, at last revealing the burn scar he'd been hiding for so long, as well as the other scars he'd received recently from Azula's torture. He looked at her with wide eyes, not expecting such a swift attack.

"Katara. I–" Zuko gasped, but the girl cut him off.

"How _could_ you?" she breathed menacingly. "I _trusted_ you! You _never_ change!" she snarled, her usually pretty face contorting with rage. All around Zuko the grass turned black and dry as the master Waterbender bent the water out of the plants, turning it into ice daggers that hovered behind her. Zuko took a step back in fear, honestly afraid of the younger girl that stood before him.

"I was going to tell you." Zuko said quickly, trying to explain himself. "I just didn't know how. I was afraid of how you'd react." he continued. "With good reason." he muttered to himself.

"You _betrayed_ us! Back at Ba Sing Se! It's _your_ fault Aang–" she broke off, unable to say it.

"I know." the Firebender answered, hanging his head. "I made a mistake. Probably the worst mistake of my life. I shouldn't have trusted Azula. I should've trusted you g–"

"Shut up!" Katara spat. "It's too late for apologies!" she lifted her hands and twisted them in unfamiliar gestures, and suddenly the Fire Nation prince felt a pain in his heart unlike anything he'd ever felt before. He couldn't control his own body as he unwillingly knelt before the Waterbender in shock. _Bloodbending._ Zuko realized. _I've heard of some Waterbenders that could actually manipulate the water in other being's bodies, but I'd never believed it. She really _is_ a master._ he thought to himself, awed despite the unbearable pain he was experiencing.

"The human body is 70% water." Katara stated tonelessly, as if just stating facts. "Knowing that, you know that I could easily kill you. Just one little squeeze," Zuko gasped as the water around his heart tightened ever so slightly, "and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore."

"I know." Zuko breathed, barely able to draw in air. Katara had bent his arms behind his back, making it difficult to breathe. She raised her arms, and Zuko's rose as well, bending in a way that they were not meant to. If she didn't stop, both of his shoulders would dislocate from their sockets.

"That's not the only way." Katara continued venomously. "I could also snap your neck." at her words, his head jerked suddenly to the side, making the vertebrae crack loudly. Zuko didn't answer this time. He knew that he was completely at the Waterbender's mercy. His life was literally in her hands.

"I can see it in your eyes. You're thinking, '_Why is she doing this?_' I'll tell you." she observed, still glaring. "Because if this is another trap; if you take _one_ step backward, _one_ slip-up, give me _one_ reason to think you might hurt Aang; I'll make sure your destiny ends, right then and there. Permanently." She tightened the water around his heart again for emphasis, a little harder this time, but not enough to kill him. As a result, the Fire prince cried out in pain.

"I can't even begin to tell you all the suffering that you've caused me and my friends over the months." she hissed, her eyes still gleaming with hatred, but Zuko saw a deep sadness in their depths as well. There was something else that was troubling her, something that went far deeper than the hurt he'd caused her. Something that had been festering for _years_. But there was no way she'd tell _him_ about it. Maybe he'd ask Sokka later, if he survived Katara's wrath.

"For everything that you've done, this," she resumed manipulating the water in his body, making him grimace in pain, "is not even _close_ to what you deserve. You don't deserve to live." She twisted his body into positions that he would have thought were nearly impossible for a human body to achieve, but somehow, he was flexible enough to endure it without breaking anything. That's not to say that he didn't feel any pain, though. He felt every joint in his body crack as he moved against his will, powerless to control his own limbs as they twisted and contorted.

"But as much as I hate you–" Katara sobbed, her tears finally breaking through her mask and overflowing. "I just can't do it." she cried, looking down at her feet and letting her arms drop to her sides. As soon as the flow of energy stopped, Zuko was released from his invisible bonds and collapsed to his hands and knees, breathing hard as if he'd just run five miles. "As much as I want to repay you for every bad thing you've done to us and to innocent people all over the world, I just don't have it in me to take a life." she continued, though now all of the fight was gone from her. "Water is supposed to be the element of _healing_, not murder. That's what fire's for."

She turned to leave the clearing, slipping back into the shadows as silently as a ghost. Just before she disappeared completely, though, she turned back and warned, "Don't think that this is over, though, _Prince_ Zuko. My promise still stands. If you give us any reason to doubt your 'transformation', I _will_ kill you." Then she disappeared into the night.

Zuko could only stare after her in exhausted terror. _Maybe I was wrong before._ he thought. _She's just as scary as Azula. What in this green earth could have caused so much hatred in her heart? What about her past could turn a kindhearted, caring young woman into a cold-blooded (almost) killer? She wasn't raised in a family like mine. I've never met her father, but I _know_ that he couldn't have been a monster like Ozai._

He slowly stood to his feet, putting a hand over his heart area, as it was still throbbing with painful tremors. He shuffled back to the campfire–or what was left of it–then turned to the balcony and walked over to where Appa was laying, just barely conscious above the waves of sleep.

"Hey boy," Zuko greeted, gently scratching one of the bison's eyelids affectionately. "You mind if I sleep by you tonight? I don't think I'm welcome with the rest of the group anymore."

The Sky Bison rumbled his assent, then turned so that his saddle was facing straight up and he was laying on his stomach. Zuko smiled gratefully, then climbed up onto the animal guardian's back and leaned up against the wall of the saddle. Resigning himself to a sleep that was sure to be full of nightmares, and not restful at all, he slid down to lay flat on his back and closed his eyes.

* * *

><p>Far above the earth, Yue watched her friends of Team Avatar as they prepared for the night, an expression of disappointed sadness on her face. She'd really hoped that Katara had forgiven Zuko for the mistakes he'd made in the past. A ray of moonlight danced across the young prince's visage, and with the healing power of the Spirits that she now possessed, she silently erased all the scars and wounds on the teenager's face, save one.<p>

"You have at last been restored, Prince Zuko." She whispered, her voice sounding more like the whisper of the wind. She descended from her place in the heavens, putting a spectral finger to her lips when Appa saw her. The bison closed his eye again, and Yue smiled. She floated over to the sleeping prince and bent over him, touching her lips ever so slightly to his forehead, giving him her blessing and protection in that small, gentle kiss. Then the ray of moonlight disappeared, and with it the princess, as a cloud passed over the moon and obscured it from view.

* * *

><p>Zuko opened his eyes wearily a few minutes later, thinking that he'd heard something move. His suspicions were confirmed when he spotted Sokka tiptoeing around and stepping over various obstacles, one of them being Momo. He leaned back against the edge of the saddle again, glaring at the spot where he knew Sokka's head would appear. And sure enough, it did.<p>

"Not up to anything, huh?" Zuko asked wryly, and Sokka flailed comically and landed on his back on the balcony, startled. "Fine, you caught me." he grumbled as he got to his feet, dusting himself off. "I'm gonna rescue my Dad." he explained, putting his belongings back into his bag. "You happy now?" he asked as he glared at Zuko.

"I'm never happy." Zuko answered, and the grumpy glare on his face testified to that.

"Look, I _have_ to do this." Sokka insisted. "The invasion plan was _my_ idea. It was _my_ decision to stay when things were going wrong." He walked toward Appa as Zuko jumped off the bison. "It's my mistake and it's my job to fix it." he continued, a determined scowl on his face. "I have to regain my honor. You can't stop me Zuko."

Zuko looked at him, a glimmer of understanding in his golden eyes. "You need to regain your honor? Believe me, I get it." he imparted, trying to show some empathy with the warrior. "I'm going with you."

Sokka climbed up Appa and stopped near the saddle. He looked back and answered, "No. I have to do this alone."

"I'm still coming with you. It'll be nothing but trouble if you go to a Fire Nation prison _alone_. I'm coming to make sure you get back safely, with or without your father. That and–" he trailed off, not wanting to say what had happened to him earlier. "Never mind," he shook his head as Sokka looked at him. An idea striking him suddenly, Sokka grabbed a brush and a piece of paper and began to scrawl an untidy note to the Gaang, explaining where they were disappearing to.

After he'd finished, Zuko added his own considerably neater note to the Avatar. Just because his teacher wasn't gonna be there for a few days didn't mean that Aang could stop practicing his Firebending. Not wanting to pry, but also curious, Zuko glanced at Sokka's portion of the note. _Hah!_ he snorted mentally. _Meat, indeed. Wonder how he's gonna explain _that_ one when we get back._ He quietly unloaded all of the bags but his and Sokka's, knowing that the extra baggage was not needed. Just as he finished, he spotted Appa's bison whistle at the back of the saddle. He raised an eyebrow, then pocketed the small instrument, thinking that it might come in handy. After everything was settled, Zuko sat on the 'driver's seat' [aka Appa's head] and flexed the reins. Appa grumbled quietly, not liking that he would have to fly instead of sleep, but he pushed off the balcony and climbed into the air just the same.

"Don't worry, Appa." Zuko comforted, almost sensing what the bison was thinking. "We're not going far. Once we get to the Boiling Rock, you can rest as much as you want."

Appa rumbled again, but this time he sounded mollified. Zuko smiled, then turned the reins so that they headed in the right direction.

* * *

><p>Morning came early for the rest of the group. Katara was up at dawn, wondering where her brother had disappeared to. She noticed Momo sleeping on his back, clutching a sheet of paper like a blanket as he slept. Katara smirked, then reached down with a gloved hand and retrieved the paper, not even disturbing the sleeping lemur, who merely rolled over onto his side. Looking back at the group, she noticed that Toph and Aang were awake too, and they both walked over to her, the young Avatar rubbing his eyes sleepily.<p>

"What does it say?" Toph asked Katara, having heard the rustle of paper when Katara had taken the letter from Momo.

Katara read aloud to the both of them. "Need meat. Gone fishing." she turned the paper and her head as she attempted to decipher her brother's messy handwriting. "Back in a few days." Aang turned around and yawned, intending to return to his sleeping bag. "Sokka and Zuko." She turned the paper so it was vertical, relieved that the handwriting had switched. Now the rest of the letter was written in Zuko's hand. "One more thing. Aang, practice your Firebending while I'm gone. Do twenty sets of fire-fists and ten hot-squats every time you hear a badger-frog croak." As she read this, Aang lay down and proceeded to go back to sleep. "Zuko."

At that moment, the creature in the letter sounded its call, and Aang groaned in irritation and opened his eyes, standing up to work on his Firebending. "Nobody _else_ has homework." he complained. He folded his hands behind his head and squatted down. "One hot-squat. Two hot-squat. Three hot-squat. Four hot–"

Katara huffed, her anger rising again at the thought of the young Firebender who had written half of the letter. "He's lying to us yet again. Just another elaborate plan to hurt Aang, hurt all of us again. I guess he's too much of a coward to stick around here, so he runs off with Sokka on a 'fishing trip'. Keh!" she spat, tossing the letter aside and stomping back to the circle of sleeping bags, going to make breakfast for the rest of the Gaang.

Toph lowered her head so that her face was facing the ground, shook her head slowly, and sighed sadly. _You're not a coward, Zuko. I may not know you very well yet, but I know _that_ much. I wouldn't wanna be around Katara either when she's in a rage like this. In fact, after last night, I'm surprised you escaped with your life._

* * *

><p>En route to the Fire Nation and the Boiling Rock, Sokka stretched his arms and cracked his neck loudly, gazing up at the firmament which was scattered with white billowy clouds. "Pretty clouds." he commented, attempting to break the awkward silence coming from the other teenager, who now sat on the opposite side of the saddle from him, letting Appa continue in the correct direction on his own.<p>

Zuko raised his head too, looking up at the blue sky. "Yeah, fluffy."

Half a minute later, a whistle pierced the silence that followed after the failed attempt at conversation.

Zuko turned toward Sokka and asked, "What?"

Sokka feigned ignorance and echoed the prince's question. "What? Oh, I didn't say anything." he looked down and started twiddling his thumbs. "You know those war balloons that the Fire Nation has now? A friend of mine actually designed those." he stated proudly, thinking of his friend the Mechanist who he'd met at the Northern Air Temple, so long ago now.

Zuko turned to his friend in surprise and interest. "No kidding."

"Yep. A balloon. But for war." Sokka confirmed, tilting his head from side to side.

Zuko frowned. "If there's one thing my Dad's _good_ at, it's war." he huffed as he turned to face the sea before them.

Sokka continued nonchalantly, "Yeah, it seems to run in the family," not really thinking about his words. He hadn't intended to hurt the other teenager, but that's what happened.

Zuko flinched and glared at the Water Tribe boy. "Hey, hold on. Not _everyone_ in my family is like that."

Sokka shrugged and closed his eyes, tilting his head from side to side again as he assuaged. "I know, I know, _you've_ changed."

Zuko looked down at his feet. "I _meant_ my Uncle. He was more of a father to me. And I really let him down." he now wore a sad expression as he thought of the man who had taught him so much.

Sokka, however, disagreed. "I think your uncle would be proud of you. Leaving your home to come help us? That's hard." he commented, thinking of how he and his sister had left their own home to help the Avatar, when this whole crazy adventure started.

Zuko muttered "It wasn't that hard." and somehow, Sokka heard it, despite the roar of the ocean waves below them.

Sokka looked up then, half in confusion, the other half in interest. "Really? You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about?''

Zuko amended, "Well I _did_ have a girlfriend. Mai." He smiled a little, his thoughts turning to the girl he truly loved.

Sokka leaned closer to Zuko with a surprised grin on his face. "That gloomy girl who sighs a lot?"

Zuko was also grinning, only his looked a little goofy. "Yeah." Then his face turned serious. "Everyone in the Fire Nation thinks I'm a traitor. I couldn't drag her into it."

Sokka leaned back on the saddle, looking dejected. "My first girlfriend turned into the Moon." he commented, thinking of Yue.

Zuko looked up at the sky, spotting the moon in her position in the daylight. "That's rough, buddy." he answered sympathetically, remembering back to the events at the North Pole. Princess Yue and the sacrifice she'd made to save her home, and possibly the whole world.

_Thank you, Yue._ Zuko thought at he returned to the 'driver's seat' on Appa's head, his mind still on the moon. _You probably saved the whole world when you took Tui's place as the Moon Spirit. If Zhao's plan hadn't been stopped, everyone in the world would have suffered with the moon's loss. Not just the Waterbenders. You truly are full of wisdom and kindness._

…

Hours later, Appa was still flying over the ocean and Zuko still stared ahead, looking for their destination. He knew it couldn't be far now. In the back of the saddle, Sokka was snoring with his mouth wide open. Hearing his friend, Zuko couldn't suppress a small yawn himself, shaking his head to wake himself up. He couldn't afford to fall asleep now. Suddenly he leaned forward on Appa's head when he spotted something in the distance. At last, their destination. "There it is." he announced back to his friend.

Sokka awakened, crawled out of the saddle and sat beside Zuko, looking in the same direction. They were headed to a small circle of rock, which looked like it had once been a volcano. Steam was billowing out of the crater, and the boys could just barely see a smaller islet of rock in the center of it.

"There's plenty of steam to keep us covered." Zuko commented. "As long as we're quiet, we should be able to navigate through it without being caught." He patted Appa's head affectionately, whispering, "Good job, boy. Thanks for taking us all the way here. We really couldn't have done it without you."

The bison rumbled quietly, his way of saying, _"You're welcome. Now when can I go back to sleep?"_

Zuko seemed to understand his question, because he chuckled and answered, "You just have to get us to that little island in the middle of that lake. Then after we're off, you can land on the outer rim of the island and rest as much as you like. There should be plenty of seaweed that you can eat, too. Just stay out of sight of the guard towers on the rim."

Appa rumbled again in confirmation that he understood, then fell silent as they descended into the steam of the Boiling Rock, landing in a blind-spot between two of the guard towers. Both boys grabbed their supplies and climbed off the bison's back and down to the ash-covered ground. Zuko patted one of the bison's six legs again and said, "Thanks, big guy. Now, go rest. We'll whistle when we need you."

The two boys watched their biggest friend fly off, bracing themselves for the sound of the alarm. It never came, and they sighed in relief. Now came the hard part: Finding Sokka's father and busting him out of an inescapable prison. This was going to be fun.

* * *

><p><span>End of chapter 6<span>

Next chapter teaser: The Boiling Rock, Part 2

Well! We finally got to the part I've been waiting to write since I got the idea for this story! It's about time!

I'm kinda torn about this chapter though. I _do_ like Katara in the show, but on the other hand, I almost wanted to see her bloodbend Zuko at some point. [And not to help him, either.] So now I've written it in here!

On that note: Everyone finally knows! (Well, except for Téo and The Duke, but they'll find out in Part 2.) Like I said in a previous chapter, I'll be trying to write the stuff we _didn't_ see in the show. Like what everyone else was doing when Zuko and various members went on their respective 'field trips', as Toph aptly puts it.

NO MORE BANDAGES! YAY! We finally get to see Zuzu's handsome face again!

*my muse [Zuko] raises an eyebrow*

I don't care _what_ you say. You're _still_ handsome _with_ your scar. It makes you look kinda cool, actually, and tough.

–Oh, you meant the nickname? Sorry. Had to do it once!

I realized at the last minute that Zuko doesn't have his War Balloon in this story, so they're taking Appa. It doesn't really change much in this chapter, but I'm gonna have to do some finagling in the next one. *sigh*

Oh, and more finagling will be needed in 'The Southern Raiders', 'cause we already had a full moon here in this chapter. Maybe I'll do what they did in Legend of Korra with Yakon, Noatak, and Tarrlok–

–Well see.

Until next chapter!

Tsunami Storm


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